Greiner v. Central Mutual Fire Insurance
Greiner v. Central Mutual Fire Insurance
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The agent of the defendant company issued to the plaintiff a policy of this and two other insurance companies at the same time. The agent was called as a witness for the defendant company, and when the question, “What statements or representations, if any, did he [plaintiff] make as to the ownership of the property at the building in which the machinery and contents were located?” it was objected to, the plaintiff’s counsel inquiring: “Q. Were those representations reduced to writing that you now speak of?” to which he replied, “His answers were reduced to writing,” and to the further question, “Q.- Were they reduced to writiug for this company?” the witness said, “ I must say the applications were taken for the three
The three cases were tried together, the facts in the present case differing to some extent from the other two cases, in which there were regular written applications for the insurance.
In this case it appears that the so-called daily report was made by the agent to the company, the representations therein contained being made by him from the answers which were embodied in the other cases in regular applications, the daily report and the applications being made up, as the witness said, from the same paper, which he destroyed. The witness was asked to refresh his recollection as to what the answers of the insured were to certain questions and this, upon objection by the plaintiff, was refused, which refusal constitutes the only assignment of error.
The offer was brought about in this way: “Q. Witness shown paper marked C. I. L. No. 32 and asked whether or not that is the paper on which he reduced Greiner’s answers to writing. Objected to as immaterial. The Court: That is disallowed, because, if that is so, then it is an application and is not attached to the policy. (Defendant excepts. Bills of exceptions signed and sealed.)”
So far as we can gather from the questions asked the witness, the policy was proposed to be attacked upon two grounds: first, that the insured misrepresented the ownership of the building and that he made a false answer to the question as to whether or not he had ever had a fire previously to the time of the insurance. Although he was not allowed to refresh his recollection, he said, in answer to the question, “What, if anything, did he say with regard to the ownership of the building in which this machinery and contents were contained? A. He owned the building. Q. What did he say? A. At this time I couldn’t recollect. It is four years ago. I couldn’t recollect whether he said he owned the building or whether anybody else owned it, because at that time of taking the application I put the answer down to the question." Then occurs the offer to
In reference to the question of a previous fire, this is what occurred: “Q. What, if anything, did he say with regard to his having had a fire before or not? Mr. Hensel: I object to that. The Court: That is disallowed. He can ask what he stated at the time. (Defendant excepts. Bill of exceptions signed and sealed.) Q. What did he say about a previous fire? Mr. Hensel: That is objected to as leading. The Court: That is leading. It is suggestive. You can state just exactly what took place there at that time. Q. Did you or not ask him anything with regard to his having had a previous fire? A. In answer to the question, have you had fire before, he said, ‘No.’ Q. Did you or not ask him that question and what was his answer? A. I asked him, did you have a fire before? and he said, ‘ No.’ ”
If these were the material questions concerning which the defendant wished information, the witness answered them both, although he qualifies the first by a statement of a lack of recollection. As to the previous fire, however, the answer is definite, emphatic and repeated.
The original paper called the daily report, marked “C. I. L. No. 32” is before us, and it is a significant fact that there is no allusion whatever therein, either as to the ownership of the property, except the question, “Does it stand on leased land?” and the answer, “No,” or as to any interrogation or answer as to a previous fire. It is difficult to understand, therefore, how the witness could have refreshed his recollection from a paper which has no allusion specifically to either of the questions concerning which information was sought.
Whether the defendant seeks to avoid the provisions of the Act of May 11, 1881, P. L. 20, which provides: “That all life and fire insurance policies upon the lives or property of persons within this commonwealth, whether issued by companies organized under the laws of this state, or by foreign companies doing business therein, which contain any reference to the application of the insured or the constitution, by-laws or other rules of the company, either as forming part of the policy or contract between the parties thereto, or having any bearing on said con
It is to be remarked further that the paper from which the witness was asked to refresh his recollection was not the paper containing the answers of the plaintiff in regard to the ownership of the property and a previous fire; indeed, it was not even a copy of the paper containing the answers to the questions which
From every point of view, therefore, we cannot see how the defendant was in any way injured by the refusal of the court to allow the so-called daily report to be used by the witness, as proposed by the defendant. Even if we should hold that the reason given by the court for refusing the offer was not a good one, the fact, nevertheless, remains that the offer of the defendant was properly refused.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.