Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 895 - Damages, liability, and miscellaneous provisions regarding actions in courts.
895.475 - Exemption from civil liability for furnishing safety inspection or advisory services.

895.475 Exemption from civil liability for furnishing safety inspection or advisory services. The furnishing of, or failure to furnish, safety inspection or advisory services intended to reduce the likelihood of injury, death or loss shall not subject a state officer, employee or agent, or an insurer, the insurer's agent or employee undertaking to perform such services as an incident to insurance, to liability for damages from injury, death or loss occurring as a result of any act or omission in the course of the safety inspection or advisory services. This section shall not apply if the active negligence of the state officer, employee or agent, or of the insurer, the insurer's agent or employee created the condition that was the proximate cause of injury, death or loss. This section shall not apply to an insurer, the insurer's agent or employee performing the safety inspection or advisory services when required to do so under the provisions of a written service contract.
History: 1991 a. 39; 2005 a. 155 s. 42; Stats. 2005 s. 895.475.
A “written service contract" is a contract that obligates the insurer to provide loss control services to an insured. Samuels Recycling Co. v. CNA Insurance Cos., 223 Wis. 2d 233, 588 N.W.2d 385 (Ct. App. 1998), 97-3511.
This section does not provide immunity from liability for a post-loss claim investigation performed by or on behalf of an insurance company pursuant to an insurance contract. This exemption from civil liability applies when an insurer voluntarily inspects an insured's property to ensure that it is safe and up-to-code, not when it arrives on the scene after the fact to adjust the insured's post-loss insurance claim based on its contractual obligations to do so. The very use of the terms “safety inspection" and “advisory services," as well as the exclusion for contractually obligated services, clearly indicates that this section is forward-looking, involving voluntary loss prevention services. Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Ropicky, 2021 WI App 25, 397 Wis. 2d 196, 959 N.W.2d 356, 20-0791.

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