Estes v. Alaska Insurance Guaranty Ass'n

I dissent from the majority opinion. The majority rewrites a patently clear clause which has been approved by the legislature, and which has been universally used and enforced in fire insurance policies since 1943. The court’s analysis is logically and legally flawed. It unnecessarily creates great uncertainty and ignores precedent of our earlier Alaska Supreme Court decisions, as well as the vast majority of other jurisdictions that have decided this same issue.

On August 14, 1983, Estes Music Studio was destroyed by fire. The fire marshal investigating the fire observed that the fire had two…