Sparks v. Flaccus Glass Co.
Sparks v. Flaccus Glass Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This was an action to recover the amount of an assessment made by the board of directors of a mutual fire insurance com
It was stipulated in the policy that, “ by accepting this policy, the assured hereby agrees to pay to said insurance company such further sums ” (in addition to the cash premium) “ and at such times as the board of directors shall assess and order pursuant to the charter, the by-laws and laws of this state, providing such assessment shall not exceed three times the annual premium paid. Article 18 of the bj'-laws provides that each member shall pay into the treasury of the company such assessments as may be levied, “ and charged to their account on the books of the company,” within thirty days from the date thereof. Article 15 provides that a member may withdraw from the company at any time before the expiration of his policy, provided the policy is returned to the company for cancelation, “ and if all charges standing against said policy holder shall have been paid.” Article 16 provides that members whose policies have been canceled or expired “shall be liable to assessment for losses and expenses incurred during the time the policy was in
There is much irrelevant matter in the affidavit of defense. • The substance of the defense is contained in the following paragraph:
“ That the placing of said insurance by the plaintiff upon the mutual assessment plan, was a' fraud, accident or mistake practiced by said plaintiff company upon the defendant, because as deponent is informed, believes, and expects to be able to prove, the plaintiff promised and agreed to issue said renewal policy as a “ nonassessable policy ” and have the word “ nonassessable ” stamped on the face of the policy, which fraud, accident or mistake practiced upon defendant by plaintiff was not discovered by the deponent at the time said policy was accepted by deponent, and that the plaintiff had not complied with its promise and agreement to issue a nonassessable renewal policy to deponent and have the same stamped in a manner precisely similar to the original policy which contained the nonassessable clause.”
We remark with regard to these averments, that if the defendant did not discover that the word “ nonassessable ” was not stamped on the face of his policy, it was because he did not look at it. It was not necessary for him to read conditions in fine print to learn that it was not the same kind of a policy he had had the year before. A mere glance at the face of the policy would have been sufficient to give him the knowledge he needed. Under all the circumstances of this case, this was a duty. For, it is to be noticed, that there is no allegation that anything was said or done at the time he accepted the policy, which can, by
It must be conceded that in many respects the case resembles Ins. Co. v. Brick Co., supra, but the cases are not parallel in all their controlling facts. In principle the case is more nearly like Susquehanna Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Oberholtzer, 172 Pa. 228. Written contracts are presumed to express the real agreements of the parties, and are not to be lightly set aside on vague allegations and uncertain inferences of fraud. A man cannot ask
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
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- Sparks v. Flaccus Glass Company
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- Practice, O. P. — Pleading—Statement of claim — Cause of action. In an action to recover the amount of an assessment made by the board of directors of a mutual fire insurance company, where the action is upon the contract yarned in the policy, of which the by-laws form a part, and not upon the resolution of the directors, a statement of claim which has Ihe policy and by-laws attached to it, and which clearly and concisely avers that the losses and expenses of the plaintiff company during the time the defendant’s policy was in force necessitated the assessment, that it was duly made by the board of directors on a day named, and that due notice thereof was given the defendant, is a sufficient statement of a good cause of action without attaching a verbatim copy of the resolution, and a detailed and itemized statement of the losses and expenses which necessitated the assessment. Practice — Pleading—Affidavit of defense — Demurrer. A suggestion contained in an affidavit of defense that the statement of claim is not sufficient in law to entitle the plaintiff to judgment is in the nature of a demurrer, and is not equivalent to a motion for a bill of particulars. Such demurrer raises a pure question of law, whilst the latter motion is addressed to the discretion of the court. Insurance — Mutual fire insurance — Withdrawal—By-laws. Where a by-law of a mutual fire insurance company permits a member to withdraw at any time provided the policy is returned for cancelation, “and if all charges standing against said policy holder shall have been paid,” and another article provides that members whose policies have been canceled “ shall be liable to assessments for losses and expenses incurred during the time the policy was in force,” the company does not, by permitting a member to withdraw, relieve such member from liability for losses incurred during the life of his policy, but which were not charged against him prior to his withdrawal. Insurance — Mutual fire insurance — Affidavit of defense — Fraud, Accident and mistake. In an action to recover the amount of an assessment of a mutual fire insurance company an affidavit of defense is insufficient which avers that through fraud, accident or mistake practiced by plaintiff, the policy in suit was issued to him instead of a nonassessable policy which the plaintiff had promised and agreed to issue to him, without any averment that at the very time the policy was issued and accepted by the defendant any officer or authorized agent of the company represented or agreed that it was' a nonassessable or a limited assessable policy. A person who accepts an assessable policy of insurance will not be permitted afterwards to aver that the insurance company had promised to .give him a nonassessable policy and through fraud, accident or mistake such policy was not issued to him, where it appears that a mere glance at the face of the policy which he received would have been sufficient to give him the knowledge he needed, that he had the benefit of the insurance for three months and a half and was permitted to return the policy for cancelation, thereby accepting the benefit of the right to be discharged from the payment of the balance of the premium, and that in the mean time the rights of other policy holders had attached, who had no knowledge or notice that the policy in question did not express the full agreement of the parties. Contract — Fraud, accident or mistake — Rescission of contract — Innocent third parties. A man cannot ask to be relieved from his written contract upon the ground of mutual mistake, or of fraud practiced upon him in the execution or acceptance of the purchase, without specifically alleging facts from which the mistake or fraud may be clearly and indubitably inferred. A fortiori is this true, when he has failed to exercise the most common prudence, has accepted and enjoyed the full benefits of the contract, and the rights of innocent third persons will be prejudicially affected.