Wothers v. Farmers Insurance Company of Washington, 5 P.3d 719 (Washington Court of Appeals, Div. 1--May 1, 2000).

Most insurance policies provide that a claim or legal action for recovery must be brought within a specified time period. In many states, this time period, like a statute of limitations, may be extended during a time when the policyholder is unaware of the loss or is incapacitated. In other states, the time period begins to run as of the happening of the loss.

Less litigation has taken place over the issue of whether litigation rules might extend the time period for bringing suit. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for example, provide that after a plaintiff files a complaint with the federal court, it has 120 days to serve the complaint on the defendant. Many states now have similar provisions. In Washington, the civil rules provide that a plaintiff has 90 days to effect service after filing an action. In Wothers v. Farmers Insurance, Washington's intermediate appellate court faced the issue of whether a policyholder met the one-year deadline for bringing a claim under a homeowners policy by filing a complaint with the court. The Wothers court held that the complaint must be served upon the insurer within the one-year period to be timely. …