German American Insurance v. Johnson
German American Insurance v. Johnson
Opinion of the Court
H. H. J. Johnson brought his action in the district court of Cowley county, Kansas, against' the German American Insurance Company upon a certain policy of insurance issued by said company at its local agency in Winfield, Kan. Jarvis & Conklin were also made parties defendant, for the reason that the plaintiff had assigned to them some portion of his interest in the policy. In their answer, Jarvis & Conklin set up that the assignment of said policy by the plaintiff was made not only to them, but to the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, and asked that said company be made a party defendant in the action. The defendant the German American Insurance Company admitted the issuance of the policy sued upon, and that a loss had occurred under the same, and alleged that by the terms of said policy an arbitration was necessary to be had, upon the application of either party; that after the fire which caused the loss under such policy an arbitration 'was had by the acts and consent of all parties, and an agreement reached which had been duly ratified by the plaintiff, and the said company tendered in court the amount due under such arbitration, and alleged that it was willing at all times to pay said amount, but that a dispute existed between the plaintiff and the defendants Jarvis & Conklin and the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, mortgage creditors, as to whom the money should be paid, and the said German American Insurance Company asks the court to adjudge to whom said money belongs. For a further defense, the German American Insurance Company alleged that there is a defect of parties defendant, for the reason that the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance
To this answer the plaintiff filed a reply, alleging that the arbitration set up by the German American Insurance Company was void for the reason that it was obtained by false and fraudulent representations on the part of the defendant and the London Assurance Corporation, and sets up the particular acts and statements alleged to have been performed and made which constituted such fraud. The plaintiff also filed a reply to the answer of Jarvis & Conklin, and upon these pleadings the cause came on for trial, and thereupon the court held that the burden of proof was upon the defendant the German American Insurance Company, to which ruling said company then and there duly objected and excepted.
At the close of the evidence offered by the plaintiff the said insurance company filed a motion for judgment, for the reason that the plaintiff had introduced no evidence to show that the arbitration and settlement was fraudulent, which motion was by the court overruled and said ruling duly excepted to.
The court instructed the jury in substance that the burden of proof was upon the defendant the German American Insurance Company, and that it must show by a preponderance of evidence that the arbitration in question was fair and without fraud upon its part. From a judgment in favor of plaintiff the German American Insurance Company brings the case here for review.
The first contention of plaintiff in error is that the action should have been abated, for the reason that
But it appears in this case that at the trial the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company was made a party, and this, we have no doubt, the trial court had the power to permit, either with or without terms, in its discretion ; that while objection was made by the plaintiff in error, the matter seems to have closed there. The Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company adopted the answer of Jarvis & Conklin, but filed no separate answer for itself. No other pleading was filed by the plaintiff in error, and, while we are clearly of the opinion that, under the provisions of the policy, had the question been raised, no recovery could have been had by a party who first appeared at that date, yet we are unable to say from the record that the plaintiff in error was prejudiced, and if it was it is quite clear that the error was waived, for the reason
The nest error complained of is the ruling of the court compelling the German American Insurance Company to assume the burden of proof in this case. In every stage of the proceeding plaintiff in error urged' its objection to this ruling, and it was undoubtedly prejudicial error. The plaintiff sued upon an insurance policy, and the defendant admitted the issuing of the policy and a loss thereunder, and alleged an arbitration and agreement of the amount of such loss by the parties to the policy. The plaintiff replied, alleging that such" arbitration was void on account of fraud of the agents of the defendant insurance company and others connected therewith. Clearly there was but one issue to try under these pleadings, and that was the question of fraud. The defendant had admitted the policy and. a loss, which avoided the necessity of proving these facts, and the plaintiff, by alleging that the arbitration was void on account of fraud, admitted that an arbitration had been entered into, and that if the same had been fair and just it was binding on said plaintiff.
It was certainly the duty, under pleadings like these, of the person alleging the fraud to assume the burden of proof. Fraud is never presumed but must be proved, and where one attempts to escape liability, or a settlement upon the ground of fraud, it cannot be said that his opponent must be compelled to first prove that there was no fraud. This error of the court was continued- through the trial of the case and in the instructions given to the jury. It is contended by counsel for defendants in error that the ruling was not prejudicial even if erroneous. We cannot agree
The next error complained of is the overruling of the motion for judgment in favor of the defendant the German American Insurance Company, at the close of the evidence of the plaintiff below, for the reason that no fraud had been shown. This motion should have been sustained. The facts in this case were that, at the time of the loss of the property covered by this policy in suit, the plaintiff also held another policy, issued by the London Assurance Corporation, and which was concurrent with the policy issued by the plaintiff in error. Shortly after the fire occurred, representatives of these companies visited the plaintiff, who was living in a small house in the immediate vicinity of the property which had been destroyed. They stated to him the purpose for which they had come, viz., to arrive at an understanding as to the amount of loss sustained by him, and to make an appraisement and award according to the conditions contained in the policies. At that time plaintiff was suffering slightly from the effects of la grippe, but was sitting up, and he himself testifies that he understood what he was doing; that he at first declined to enter into any written agreement, desiring to see his attorney, but afterward, having received notice from the brother of his attorney, who was also the agent of the insurance company, to the effect that his attorney had left town and that the representations made as to the appraisement were proper, he
The insurance company brought a man from Wicli-. ita who was a master-builder, and the plaintiff himself selected a master-builder residing in his own town. These two, after examining the ruins of the property destroyed and obtaining information from the plaintiff and various dealers m building material, agreed upon the amount of damage, and said amount was accepted in writing as being the amount of the damage with no objection, and with seeming entire satisfaction. The master-builder selected by the plaintiff had never seen either of the representatives of the insurance companies, or the person selected by them to represent them in the ajipraisement, nor did any person on behalf of the companies take any part m or interfere with the appraisement, nor were they present during any of the time when the appraisers were arriving at a conclusion, and, more than all, the plaintiff himself was a carpenter, and had performed much of the labor and purchased all of the material used in the building which had been destroyed. He knew what it liad cost to erect such a building, and he knew in what sum the loss was appraised at the time of the final settlement. He was perfectly able to walk from his home to the business portion of the town and execute upon his part the necessary papers for the settlement. All the witnesses testified that there was nothing in his appearance or action but what indicated that he understood whai he was doing and was entirely satisfied. And whe.i placed upon the stand in the trial of this case as a witness in his own behalf, and pressed by his counsel
Under the insurance policy, the company had a right to appraisement and arbitration, and the plaintiff himself recognized this right at a later daie when he sought to ignore the first arbitration and, in connection with the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company and Jarvis & Conklin, entered into a second arbitration, of which notice was given to the German American Insurance Company. We might here say that, had this first arbitration been void for any reason, we are of the opinion chat the German American Insurance Company would have been bound by the second award, although it was not present, for the reason that it had notice thereof and elected t< stand upon the first award. We have carefully studied this evidence, and especially that of the plaintiff with regard to what took place at the time the agreement for the first award was entered into, and are very clear in the opinion that it utterly fails to establish any fraud whatever, and that the court should have rendered judgment upon the motion of the plaintiff in error.
It is contended by the defendant in error that, even although the court may have committed error in over
Besides, our statute provides (¶4214, Gen. Stat. 1889) that it shall not be necessary to deposit money so tendered until the time of trial or when ordered by the court.
The judgment of the district court is reversed so far as it relates to the German American Insurance Company, and this cause is remanded, with instructions to the district court to render judgment m favor of the German American Insurance Company for costs, the amount tendered by said company to be distributed to the interested parties, under the order of the district court. i
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.