Kennedy v. Jackson Jackson Fire Ins.
Kennedy v. Jackson Jackson Fire Ins.
Opinion of the Court
This is a suit in the name of Douglas Ray Kennedy for the use and benefit of Grlobe Indemnity Company, assignee, against Andrew Jackson Fire Insurance Company and others to enforce alleged subrogation rights. At the conclusion of the evidence, the learned chancellor found for the defendants and dismissed the bill of complaint with prejudice. From the decree entered the complainant appealed.
Douglas Ray Kennedy, a soldier, was stationed at Keesler Field near Biloxi. He and his wife, on April 10, 1951, purchased a house trailer from Southern Trailer Distribution. There was a trade-in allowance; and they executed a conditional sales contract for the deferred balance, which showed the details of the transaction, including the amount and items of insurance. The insurance premium was $172.50, but this amount did not include collision coverage. The trailer was used as a mere place to live, and was not being moved on the highways. Since there was no occasion for collision insurance, none whs applied for or taken out. The conditional sales contract was assigned to Warren Credit Company.
Provision (3) of the conditional sales contract forbade the removal of the trailer from the county in which it was then located without the written consent of the seller or its assigns. Provision (4) thereof required the buyer to insure the trailer against fire, theft, and other hazards ; and if he failed to do so in a satisfactory manner, the holder had authority to insure it and add the cost as a part of the purchase price.
Kennedy was instructed, at the time of purchase, to notify the finance company before he moved the trailer; and he gave notice to the seller of his intention by word of mouth about November 1, 1951. Thereafter on January 2, 1952, he applied to Grlobe Indemnity Company for collision insurance on the trailer, and paid a premium of $51.61 in cash. He did not know at the time that there
Following notice of intention to move the trailer, Andrew Jackson Fire Insurance Company, under a so-called “bordeau” report, which names a number of contracts, on November 20, 1951, issued a collision insurance policy on the trailer although Kennedy had not requested this action when he gave notice of his intention to move the trailer.
The proof for the defendant insurance company was to the effect that the issuance of this policy was a mistake; that the Warren Credit Company had been a partnership, but that it was split up into two parts, and, to simplify matters, the insurance coverage on all of its contracts was placed with Credit Insurance Agency under one master policy; that the agency erroneously issued the policy for Kennedy’s trailer; that the error was not discovered until after the wreck; and that the policy was not delivered either to Warren Credit Company or Kennedy until after the wreck. In other words, although a policy had actually been written for the trailer, neither Kennedy, the owner, nor Warren Credit Company, the holder of the conditional sales contract, had requested the issuance of the policy or knew about its issuance until after the wreck; and that its issuance was simply a mistake.
Inasmuch as Kennedy, in giving notice that he expected to move his trailer, said nothing whatever about in
While the manner in which the Andrew Jackson policy was handled is not, in any way, to be commended, yet, when the foregoing facts are taken into consideration, it is not hard to see why the chancellor, on the proof before him, was satisfied that the issuance of this policy was a mistake. The evidence was ample to sustain his conclusion.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.