Erie Brewing Co. v. Ohio Farmers Insurance
Erie Brewing Co. v. Ohio Farmers Insurance
Opinion of the Court
While the action under review was brought by Bridget Corrigan (now Bridget Cullen), who is one of the plaintiffs in error, it is developed in the record that her interest in the results of the litigation are not in dispute, inasmuch as the controversy is waged between the
Nothing is said in the petition about a mortgage clause; and The Erie Brewing Company is made a party because it claims some interest in the insured property by reason of a mortgage on the same; and nothing is said about any difference between her and the insurance company as to the amount of loss and damage, and nothing about an appraisal and an award. The Erie Brewing Company in its answer and cross-petition sets out its ownership of the mortgage and note secured thereby, which ownership came by assignment from Bridget Gaffney, the mortgagee. The terms and conditions of the mortgage are alleged, as well as the substance of the policy of insurance issued by The Ohio Farmers Insurance Company, and the so-called mortgage clause is copied as part of said answer and cross-petition. This clause appears in the statement made of the case preceding this opinion. It is alleged that the building insured was damaged to the extent of $2,449.20, for the one-half of which (there being concurrent insurance) it prayed judgment.
When we look to the amended answer of the insurance company to the cross-petition of the brewing company, we find it pleading so much of the policy as provides that it was agreed therein by the insured and the insurance company, that in the event of disagreement as to the amount. of loss, the same should be ascertained by two competent and disinterested appraisers, the insured and the insurance company each selecting one, and that the two so chosen to first select a competent disinterested umpire; that these appraisers should estimate and appraise the loss, and they failing to agree should submit their differences to the umpire, the award in writing of any two shall determine the amount of such loss.
It is alleged that the insured and the insurance company did differ as to the amount of the loss and damage on the insured building, and that on May 3, 1904, this company and the company issuing the concurrent insurance agreed in writing with the insured to submit the question of loss and damage to certain appraisers, which was done after the selection of an umpire, and that the award made in pursuance of the terms of the
It is not averred in this defense that the owner of the mortgage — The Erie Brewing Company— had any notice or knowledge of the differences between the insured and the insurance company as to the amount of the loss, or that -the brewing company had notice or knowledge of the time and place of the appraisal and award. It is not averred that it was present or took part in said submission and appraisal. The court of common pleas sustained a demurrer to this defense, which judgment the circuit court reversed, and that ruling gives rise to the principal controversy in this proceeding.
Is the appraisal and award thus made binding on the owner of the mortgage where such owner does not assail the award for fraud or collusion? We find the authorities are not in harmony on the question. .The decided cases are in serious conflict, but many of them adjudicate controversies unlike the one before us, while others are more directly in point. The legal status of the so-called mortgage clause has been differently defined by courts and text-writers, some of which hold that it is a' new and independent contract, not controlled necessarily by all the provisions of the policy, while others hold that such clause is - a designation or appointment of the mortgagee as the party to share in or receive the amount of the loss and damage.
It must not be overlooked that there was no assignment of the policy in this case. There was
It seems that clause expresses what will not invalidate the policy as to the mortgagee, and creates an obligation on his part, if he have knowledge of change of ownership or occupancy, or in
In this language it is to be further. observed that the clause does not vest in the mortgagee any additional title or interest in the insured property, for it says: “Loss or damage, if any, under this policy shall be payable to The Erie Brewing Company as mortgagee as interest may appear, and this insurance as to the interest of the mortgagee only therein shall not be invalidated,” etc.
It would appear reasonable that in respects not modified or limited by the express language of this mortgage clause, the plain provisions of the policy as between the insured mortgagor and the insurance company must prevail and be observed. The rights conferred by the clause spring from the contract relation which the mortgagor sustains to the company, and but for saving words in the clause, the neglect or default of the insured might defeat the interests of both.
Llere we have in the policy the unequivocal provision that: “In event of disagreement as to the amount of loss the same shall, as above provided, be ascertained by two competent and dis
This is a part of the body of the policy and it has been uniformly held that a compliance with the conditions is a prerequisite to recovery on the policy, and this mortgage clause, although on a separate paper, is of same date as the mortgage and attached to the policy at the time of its execution. Hence it was not intended to be a new and separate contract between the insurance company and the mortgagee, but to designate or appoint the payee of the amount of loss according to the interest in — not the property insured — but in the insurance which he may make appear. Such clauses for convenience perhaps are not contained in the forms of the principal contract of insurance between the insured and the company, but pre-' pared on a separate sheet in order that in a proper case it may be attached, and when this is done, it does not waive or destroy any express provision of the policy, but serves its purpose by designating the payee when loss occurs and modifies the principal contract only to the extent that a modification or qualification is clearly expressed therein.
This view leads to the conclusion that the principal contract must be observed, except as expressly modified, and that the rights of the mortgagee depend upon and must be. worked out
Therefore an arbitration was in order where the principal parties could not agree. There is. no provision in the mortgage clause that recognizes his right to select or be present when an appraiser is selected. That method of determining the loss is fixed in the policy and remains there after the mortgage clause is attached, and there is nothing in it which in any degree qualifies the authority for appraisal existing between the principal parties. And surely there could not be two appraisals one according to the policy between the insured and the insurance company, and another at the behest of the mortgagee. There is nothing in the mortgage clause that provides notice of appraisal to the mortgagee. Two appraisals might not be for. same amount and the situation would be unique. The present question, as we are now advised, has not heretofore been passed upon by this court, but our views find support in several well considered cases decided in other jurisdictions.
In Fogg and another v. Middlesex Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 10 Cushing, 337, it is held an indorsement on a policy of insurance, “for value received, pay the within, in case of loss to F. and H.,” made to a purchaser of the property insured, is rather an order of or assignment of a right to the money in case of loss, than a regular transfer of the contract of insurance.
After discussing other forms of assignment of insurance, Shaw, C. J., on page 346, says: “But there is another species of assignment or transfer
The same view is adopted by the same court in Minturn v. Manufacturers' Insurance Co., 10 Gray, 501.
In Grosvenor v. The Atlantic Fire Ins. Co., 17 N. Y., 391, it is held that, “where a fire policy names the owner of the property as the one insured, and declares the damages in case of loss to be payable to another person therein named as mortgagee, the latter cannot recover in case of a ^breach of the conditions of the policy by the mortgagor. In such case, the contract is with the mortgagor, and for the insurance of his interest,
In Hathaway v. Orient Ins. Co., 134 N. Y., 409, the preceding case with others was considered and distinguished, but its doctrine was not overruled.
Atlas Reduction Co. et al. v. New Zealand Ins. Co., 138 Fed. Rep., .497, is a leading case decided by the circuit court of appeals of the United States. The substance of the holding is, that where an indorsement was made on a policy of fire insurance, by the agents of the insurer, at the request of the insured, to-wit: “Subject to all the conditions of this policy, loss, if any, payable to D. and S. as their interests may appear” — the indorsement must be read in the light of the purpose which actuated the parties in stipulating that the policy could be modified, or any provision thereof waived, only by a writing of equal dignity and credit with the policy itself. Such an indorsement is a common mode of furnishing a species of security by a debtor to his creditor, who may be willing to trust to the debtor’s honesty, etc., but who requires some indemnity against such accidents as loss by fire, and it does not create a new contract of insurance with the payee, or abrogate or waive any condition of the policy. The terms of the indorsement are not conflicting, but consistent and plain, and their purpose and effect are to make D. and S. the simple appointees of the insured to receive payment of any loss payable to the insured under the policy, and to receive it, not absolutely, but to the extent of any interest they
We content ourselves with consideration of another case, although others are cited in brief for defendant in error. In Chandos et al. v. American Fire Ins. Co., 84 Wis., 184, omitting part of the syllabus, we quote from the third section: “A mortgagee to whom the insurance is made payable ‘as her interest may appear’ is bound by the appraisement or award, although she was not a party to and had no notice of the proceedings.” The opinion of the court is a thorough discussion of this and other subjects and is valuable for the array of authorities cited.
On page 191, the court says: “That the mortgagee was not a party to the appraisement, and had no notice of it, is an objection of much more importance. All of the insurance policies contain the same direction of ‘loss payable to Louisa W. I. Goff, the mortgagee, as her interest may appear.’ To determine whether she was entitled to all the insurance, all of the policies of insurance must be considered together as one policy and at the time the loss occurred, and not since it has been determined in this case whether the loss is less or more than the mortgage. To determine the question whether the mortgagee ought to have had notice of the appointment of appraisers, and to have been a party to the appraisement, it is im
This logic applies to the case at bar, for the policy and clause under consideration was not an assignment of all the insurance, nor of the insurance policy. The insurance given by this policy is $1,750, and concurrent insurance in same amount — $3,500. The mortgage debt at date of
There are some cases that seem to hold contrary to our views and they are cited for plaintiff in ertor in its brief. We have examined these cases, but have not space for their discussion here.
We concur in the decision of the circuit court and affirm its judgment.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.