900,000 to fight the insurance industry over the referendum . `` Insurance companies have figured out that they can make more money if they do n't pay your claim , '' said Washington state Rep. Steve Kirby . Kirby and his fellow Washington state lawmakers heard so many complaints from policy holders who believed insurers were n't treating them fairly that earlier this year they passed a law called `` The Fair Conduct Act . '' Hearings were held , the bill was revised -- even watered down , according to Kirby -- and both the House and Senate passed it . The governor readily signed it . But the very next day a coalition , funded primarily by insurance companies , moved in to stop the law from going into effect by filing petitions for a voter referendum on the law . Representatives of the insurance industry say the law will raise premiums and that the system is working fine as it is . The law , they said , will only make things worse , and they want voters to have the final say . `` The insurance companies stepped in and said , ` Consumers , you
SEATTLE , Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Across the country , insurance companies , trial lawyers and legislators are closely watching a November referendum in the state of Washington that could change how insurers are required to treat their customers . Insurance companies are using the referendum process to try to strike down a new law in Washington state . Insurance giants like Allstate , State Farm , Safeco and Farmers have poured more than $ 8 million into the referendum battle . Their goal is to convince voters to reject a law passed earlier this year that could force insurers to pay up to triple damages and lawyer fees if they fail to pay a legitimate claim and then lose in court . A `` yes '' vote on the referendum allows the law to go into effect while a `` no '' vote strikes the law down . Supporters of the law say it forces insurance companies to pay legitimate claims in a timely and fair fashion and frees the courts from relatively minor cases that clog the system for months and even years . One supporter , the Washington Trial Lawyers Association , has raised almost $