Oraniewicz v. Intact Insurance Company
Janusz Oraniewicz
Law Firm / Organization
Self Represented
Intact Insurance Company
Law Firm / Organization
Bilkey Law Corporation

Background: On May 14, 2015, a fire caused extensive damage to Oraniewicz's hotel and restaurant, destroying much of the building's interior and its contents. Oraniewicz had an insurance policy with Intact Insurance that covered building loss, loss of contents, and loss of profits. At the time, he was indebted to two lenders, National Holdings Ltd. and Pioneer West Mortgage Investment Corporation. National Holdings was designated as the first loss payee under the policy.

Key Legal Issues:
The main issues were:

  1. Whether the insurance policy was correctly interpreted to entitle National Holdings to all insurance proceeds, not just for building loss.
  2. Whether Intact breached its duty of good faith by delaying the settlement process and failing to communicate effectively with Oraniewicz.

Court’s Findings: The trial court found that National Holdings was entitled to all proceeds under the policy up to the value of Oraniewicz's debt. It also determined that Intact did not breach its duty of good faith, as any delays were largely due to Oraniewicz’s actions.

Outcome: The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. Oraniewicz was not awarded any additional funds, and no costs were awarded to either party in the appellate decision.

Court of Appeals for British Columbia
CA48988
Insurance law
Respondent