Hall v. Speer

Summarized by:

  • Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
  • Area(s) of Law: Attorney Fees
  • Date Filed: 12-24-2014
  • Case #: A145014
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Haselton, C.J. for the Court; Nakamoto, P.J.; & Schuman, S.J.

Application for benefits, coupled with a doctor’s report and correspondence with an insurer, are not sufficient “proof of loss” to require the payment of attorney fees.

On remand from the Oregon Supreme Court, the Court considered whether Hall provided the Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate) with a “proof of loss” more than six months before Allstate began coverage and consented to binding arbitration, which would entitle Hall to attorney fees. The Court of Appeals, reconsidering in light of Zimmerman v. Allstate Property and Casualty Ins., found that Hall’s application for benefits, along with a surgeon’s report and letters between her attorney and Allstate, were not “proof of loss.” These circumstances were materially indistinguishable from those in Zimmerman, so they were insufficient to trigger Allstate’s obligation to investigate such a claim. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying Hall attorney fees. Affirmed.

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