Marcus v. Rhode Island Insurance
Marcus v. Rhode Island Insurance
Opinion of the Court
Defendant issued to plaintiff a policy of fire insurance in September, 1912, on his store
In this State, provisions in policies of fire insurance which make the contract void'if there is other insurance, if the property is left vacant and unoccupied, or if there is a change of ownership, without the consent of the insurer, are valid.
The correctness of this statement of the law is not denied by plaintiff and he resorts to the idea that, after all, the contract had not become void, or at an end, but its force merely remained in abeyance, subject to renewed life if the insured happened to again become the owner of the property.
In this theory in his own behalf plaintiff leaves the defendant altogether out of consideration; and it seems to be assumed as of no consequence what defendant may think about the revivor. The idea is palpably unreasonable and unjust. During an extended term of insurance the insured, under that theory, may conclude to sell, purchase back, resell and repurchase as often as he may please, and thus, of his own will, have the insurer bound, released and rebound, at his own pleasure. It is not suggested how the insurer, in
Plaintiff has cited cases in support of the judgment that deserve notice. Lane v. Ins. Co., 12 Maine 44; Worthington v. Bearse, 12 Allen, 382; Wolfe v. Ins. Co., 39 N. Y. 49; Power v. Ins. Co., 19 La. 28; in the first of these the insurance was on the store building and goods, separately. The building was “hired” to another and kept a few months and the goods were sold to him. At the end of a few months the insured “took back” the goods and paid the vendee for his time. Then the property burned. The court held the “hiring” of the building was not an “alienation” provided against in the policy. On the second branch of the case, 'it was held that as the term of the insurance was for six years, it must have been understood by the parties that selling the goods, piece at a time, and replenishing the stock from time to time, was not an alienation. The court then said, “we see no difference in principle between the case where the quantity is diminished by a partial sale and then replenished, and where the whole is sold and entire new stock is purchased. ” We think that view has little reason to sustain it. Certainly the parties contemplated that the goods would be retailed and replenished during the six years the policy Avas to run. But they just as certainly contemplated that the insured would remain in the business and himself do the selling and replenishing, unless he notified the insurer, that he had sold out to a successor, or had quit the business. The policy provided that “when the property shall be alienated by sale or otherwise, the policy shall thereupon be Aroid.” We do not appreciate the course of reasoning which Avould say, that because the insured himself may sell and replenish, and thus himself' continue the business
In the second case there was no absolute sale, the insured retaining Ms insurable interest. But if he had not, there was no provision in the policy against a sale.
In the third case, there were two transfers. The insured was a married man and transferred the goods to one Stupp, evidently that he might transfer them to the insured’s wife, which .Stupp immediately did. The husband then assigned the policy to his wife with the consent of the company, which was interpreted to be a consent to the transfer of the goods to her, citing Hooper v. Ins. Co., 17 N. Y. 424.
In the fourth case the insured did not alienate the property “absolutely and permanently,” but conditionally, on payment of the purchase money which if not paid was to “revert back to the plaintiff.” It is clear that these cases do not meet the question here where the sale was an absolute sale which permanently took the property and the business out of plaintiff and vested it in Rosa, without the knowledge or consent of the defendant and in the face of an express provision of the policy.
In Morrison v. Ins. Co., 18 Mo. 262, supra, Judge Scott said, “The general principle is, that an absolute assignment or sale, after the insurance is made, takes away the insurable interest of the vendor, and creates a bar to the right of action on the policy, unless by some means its existence has been preserved for the benefit of the assignee. After the assured has parted with all his interest in the property insured he stands as though he never had any right in the subject of the insurance, and therefore cannot affect a valid policy upon it. The contract of insurance is no longer a contract of wager; it is a contract of indemnity, and nobody can recover in respect to the loss, who is not really interested. This principle is too obvious to re
In Hoover v. Ins. Co., 93 Mo. App. 111, the contract provided that if the building insured remained vacant for a space of ten days without the consent of the insurer, the policy should be void. A vacancy of that period occurred, but the property was occupied before the fire. It was held that the policy was not merely suspended during the vacancy, but it became void and was not revived by the reoccupaney.
In Insurance Co. v. Russell, 65 Kansas, 373, there was a provision in the contract that if the property was allowed to become unoccupied and vacant, it would render the policy void and the court held that a reoccupation before the fire would not revive the policy. It was said in that case that the court would “not commit the folly of interpolating into, or adding to, the policies before them a condition that the insurer’s liability was suspended during the period of non-occupancy and revived again upon reoccupancy. The parties themselves could have expressed this condition if it had been intended. ’ ’
To the same effect is Moore v. Ins. Co., 62 N. H. 240 and Ins. Co. v. Hebard, 95 Pa. St. 45. In Imperial Ins. Co. v. Coos County, 151 U. S. 452, 462, the court upheld an avoidance of a policy on much less ground than is found in this ease. It was stipulated that “if mechanics are employed in building, altering or repair
In view of the foregoing we must reverse the judgment.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- JAMES T. MARCUS v. RHODE ISLAND INSURANCE COMPANY
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published