Christiansen v. First Insurance Co. of Hawai'i

MOON, Chief Justice.

We granted defendant-appellee-petitioner First Insurance of Hawaii, Ltd.’s (First Insurance) petition for a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) in Christiansen v. First Insurance Company of Hawai'i, Ltd., No. 19968, 88 Hawai'i 442, 967 P.2d 639 (App.1998) [hereinafter, Christiansen ]. Based on the doctrine of equitable tolling, the ICA held that the Christiansens’ breach of contract claim was not time barred. We agree that the claim was timely, but for a different reason. Because we hold that an action commences upon the…