Insurer, Insureds, Amici Debate ‘Occurrence’ Requirement Before Oregon High Court

(September 20, 2023, 2:55 PM EDT) -- SALEM, Ore. — A commercial general liability insurer urged the Oregon Supreme Court to affirm lower court rulings that it owed no duty to indemnify its insured contractor for damages awarded in an underlying construction defect arbitration, rejecting the homeowners’ argument that the high court should distinguish or clarify Oak Crest Construction v. Austin Mut. Ins. Co., on which the lower courts relied in finding that because that contractor’s liability arose from a breach of contract, there was no “occurrence” and, thus, no coverage for the property damage....