Overcast v. Billings Mutual Insurance Co.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• recognizing defamation as a tort claim independent of conduct constituting a breach of insurance contract
• recognizing independent defamation claim where the insurer accused the insured of arson in a letter the insurer knew would be used by other insurers to deny coverage
• holding “[t]o read words and concepts into our statutes that the general assembly did not write shows disrespect both for the general assembly and the common law, which the legislature has the power expressly to displace”
• denying fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims where the insured’s claims were “based on [the insurer’s] refusal to pay”
• denying fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims where the insured's claims were “based on [the insurer's] refusal to pay”
• finding claims with no common elements to breach of contract only “tangentially related” and therefore independent

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).