Dawson v. American Central Insurance
Dawson v. American Central Insurance
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Dawson took out a policy in the office of defendent, dated -January 30, 1872, insuring a house, to him belonging, against loss by fire for one year, in the sum of $1,200. The house was destroyed by fire on December 28, 1872, and this suit being brought, defendant answered that one of the conditions of the policy was that, if the house should become vacant and unoccupied, the policy should be void; that, when insured, the house was occupied as a dwelling; that, in November, 1872, it became vacant and unoccupied, by the consent and knowledge of the plaintiff, and was •destroyed while thus vacant and unoccupied. ' The plaintiff
At the trial, after putting in the policy, the plaintiff was ¡sworn. He testified that he never read, nor attempted to read, the policy; that his sight was very defective, and had been for some years ; that a man named Hubbard came to his house, bringing him a policy from the .¿Etna, and asked him if he had any other houses to insure. Hubbard was travelling about, giving policies on lives and against fire. Dawson said he wanted to know the contents of this policy, when Hubbard brought it to him. Hubbard replied, “Never ■mind, its all right,” and showed him a schedule setting forth what losses the defendant had paid on the Chicago fire. 'The house was occupied when insured. It was vacant and ■unoccupied when burned, and had been so for about four weeks. The tenant moved out, by the direction of plaintiff, -•about the middle of November, 1872. At the close of the plaintiff’s case the court declared that the plaintiff could mot recover. He excepted, and appealed to this court.
- There is no error in this record. It was plainly declared ■that the policy would not cover the house if it became vacant and unoccupied. It did become vacant and unoccupied by the act of the plaintiff himself, and so continued for a period variously estimated at from four to six weeks. While thus vacant and unoccupied it was burned. It was not at the risk of the company at that time. It was alleged in the reply that the condition was fraudulently printed in .small type in order to deceive the plaintiff. This allegation is entirely unsupported by evidence. No attempt, so far ms we can see, was made to support it.
Since writing this opinion, the counsel for appellant have
The judgment of the Circuit Court is affirmed,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.