Wilson v. German-American Insurance
Wilson v. German-American Insurance
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This was an action begun by the appellees, Charles M. Wilson and P. L. Montague, as partners, to recover upon a contract of insurance be
It is first contended that the contract of insurance not being in writing is subject to the terms and conditions contained in the written policies usually and customarily issued by the appellant. One of the conditions
It is next contended that a valid contract of insurance was never made between the parties. Yost was an
Another contention is that Yost was the agent of the insured as well as of the insurer, and that the interests were so conflicting that any contract made by him was without force. The arrangement that the agent should retain- the policy when issued and keep the properby insured thereafter is the only basis for the claim that he was acting as the agent of appellees. There is nothing substantial in the claim of agency of the insured, and in any event nothing approaching a conflict of interests. It is a common practice among agents to notify the insured of the expiration of their policies and. to send renewals to those who have been -insured with the companies represented by them. These are duties which the companies expect the agents to perform. While it is a convenience to the insured, it is really done in the interest of the insurer in order to hold the patronage of the insured. The fact that the policy was to have been left in the safe of the agent after the contract was made was a mere matter of accommodation to appellees, and did- not operate to create a conflicting agency any more than the custody of a written contract by one of the parties to it would make him the agent of the other. No evidence was offered to show, nor in fact was there any claim, that there was fraud in the transaction or collusion between Yost and the appellees. Duality of agency is permissible under the law in some instances. Thus it has been said:
“The maxim that ‘no man shall serve two masters' does not prevent the same person from acting as agent,*359 for certain purposes, of two or more parties to the same transaction when their interests do not conflict, and where loyalty to the one is not a breach of duty to the other.” (Nolte v. Hulbert, 37 Ohio St. 445, 447.)
(See, also, Todd v. German American Insurance Co., 2 Ga. App. 789, 59 S. E. 94; Herman v. Martineau, 1 Wis. 136, 60 Am. Dec. 368; Casey v. Donovan, 65 Mo. App. 521; Stone v. Slattery’s Adm’r, 71 Mo. App. 442; Williams v. Baldwin, 7 Vt. 503.)
Whether Yost can be regarded as an agent of appellees, or whatever his relationship to them may be designated, it is certain that his duty to them is in no sense repugnant to that which he owed to the appellant. (Schauer and others v. Queen Ins. Co. of America, 88 Wis. 561, 60 N. W. 994; Insurance Co. v. Reynolds, 36 Mich. 502; Dibble v. Assurance Co., 70 Mich. 1, 37 N. W. 704, 14 Am. St. Rep. 470.)
The case is quite unlike one where an agent represents two insurance companies between which there is a controversy as to the liability for a loss. The policies of insurance previously issued by other companies is a matter of no concern of appellant. They were regularly canceled, and appellant is not now contesting the validity of the cancellation. The cancellations were made before the contract with appellant was made. Its representative took the steps essential to the completion of a contract of insurance with appellees. He had the authority to do so. There was good faith in the transaction, and no reason is seen why the contract is not enforceable.
The judgment of the district court will, therefore, be affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Charles M. Wilson, Partners, etc. v. The German-American Insurance Company
- Cited By
- 21 cases
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- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. Insurance — Oral Contract — Written Policy Not Completed— Company Liable. The owner of property contracted with an agent representing several insurance companies to insure property for a certain amount, hut did not designate the particular company in which the insurance should be taken, and at the same time he paid the premium and arranged with the agent to hold the policy and thereafter to keep the property insured. A policy was issued in a company, which shortly afterwards was canceled, and the agent then placed the insurance in another company represented by him, and that policy, too, was canceled. He then placed the insurance in the defendant company and began to write out a policy, but an interruption prevented its completion at the time and before it was finished the property was destroyed by fire. Held: (1) That the steps taken by the authorized agent of the company constituted a binding contract of insurance with the defendant; (2) that under the contract as pleaded the failure to furnish proofs of loss did not operate as a forfeiture; (3) that the action of the agent in agreeing with the property owner to hold the policy and keep his property insured was not repugnant to the duty of the agent to the defendant, nor did it affect the validity of the contract of insurance.