Brockway v. Allstate Property and Casualty Ins. Co.

Under ORS 742.056, an insurance company’s investigation of a loss or claim under an insurance policy does not estop the insurance company from asserting any provision of the policy or defense of the insurer arising from the policy.

Plaintiffs, insured homeowners, brought this claim against Defendant, insurance company. Plaintiffs made a claim on their insurance policy two years prior to bringing this lawsuit, which Defendant declined to cover. Defendant was granted summary judgment by the trial court based on a provision in the insurance policy which limited Plaintiff’s claims or suits against Defendant to two years from the time of the loss. Plaintiffs argued on appeal that questions of fact remained as to whether Defendants were equitably estopped from asserting the two-year contractual limitation in the policy because Defendants’ investigation was ongoing past the two year period, and that the two year limitation did not apply to their claim that Defendant breached the implied covenant of good faith. The Court held that the trial court did not err in finding for Defendant on the question of equitable estoppel, because there was no evidence that Defendants misrepresented the two year limitation. The Court also held, in the alternative, that no reasonable fact finder could have found that Defendant breached the duty of good faith, where Defendant clearly informed Plaintiffs of the two year limitation and repeatedly reserved the right to assert all provisions of the insurance policy. Affirmed.