• Direct action is a lawsuit between the injured party and the tortfeasor’s liability insurer to pay out the liability policy. Basic contract law provides that only parties who enter into a contract have “capacity” or the right to bring an action to enforce that contract. In the context of insurance, this means that only the policyholder has the right to enforce the liability policy issued by the liability insurer. If the insured causes harm to a third party, that third party does not have a private contract with the liability insurer, and at common law the injured third party is not entitled to bring a claim directly against the insurer to enforce the insurer’s obligation to pay damages. Because the courts refused to allow injured parties to directly sue liability insurers, some state legislatures have passed special laws called “direct action” laws that allow injured parties to directly sue the tortfeasor’s liability insurer. However, the injured party must meet all statutory requirements in order to proceed with a direct claim. Generally, “direct action” state laws require the injured party to file one claim against the tortfeasor, obtain a judgment against the tortfeasor, and file a second claim against the tortfeasor’s liability insurer within a set period of time (for example, 30 days) from the date of issue. sentence.