Opinion ID: 610297
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: npic

Text: 22 A bad faith tort claim may be brought where an insurer 'intentionally and unreasonably denies or delays payment' on a claim and the insured suffers harm not fully compensable at contract. White v. Unigard Mut. Ins. Co., 730 P.2d 1014, 1018 (Idaho 1986) (citation omitted). However, [a]n insurer does not act in bad faith when it challenges the validity of a 'fairly debatable' claim.... Id. at 1020. Here, NPIC refused to pay the claim on the grounds that the accident fell under express policy exclusions. This position was vindicated at trial. Thus, the claim was fairly debatable and there was no bad faith. 23 The district court erred, however, in dismissing Juker's breach of contract claim against NPIC. The purpose of the doctrine of estoppel in insurance cases is to enforce the contract as originally agreed upon by the parties. Lewis v. Continental Life & Accident Co., 461 P.2d 243, 248 (Idaho 1969) (emphasis added). Viewed in this light, NPIC breached its contract with Juker even if it did not breach the express terms of the written policy. We therefore remand with instructions to enter judgment for Juker on his breach of contract claim in the amount of $400,000.