What is the test for determining when a plaintiff can sue for damages under a defective insurance policy?

2 The case of Austin v. Fulton Insurance Co., 444 P.2d 536 (Alaska, 1968) provides plaintiff no comfort. As the court said "There appellant does not rely upon any provision of the policies, but rather upon what ought to have been included in the policies but was not. Appellant's reliance is placed on matters outside the policies of insurance, and therefore his action against appellees is not one "on this policy" within the meaning of the limitation contained in the policies, and such twelve-month period of limitation has no application here."

1 Definition of "defective", Black's Law Dictionary.