Etter v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance
Etter v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
To enable the plaintiff to make out a prima facie case it was necessary his proof should tend to establish that at the time of his fire loss there existed a valid and binding contract of insurance with the defendant company. If the existence of such contract was proven by evidence, its validity would not be destroyed merely because it was made in parol. This is clearly pointed out in Benner v. Fire Association, 229 Pa. 75. After a review of a great number of authorities in many jurisdictions, Mr. Justice Moschzisker, speaking for the court, declares that the weight of authority supports the further conclusion that an executory contract of insurance in the future may be valid and binding. But it is equally clear that where a plaintiff is obliged to rely upon a contract of that character, his testimony must be sufficiently precise and definite to show that the minds of the parties had met on every essential element of such contract. “The testimony must make clear the subject-matter of insurance, the amount and elements of the risk, including its duration in point of tittle and extent in point of hazard assumed, the rate of premium, and generally all the circumstances which are peculiar to the contract and distinguish it from every other so that nothing remains to be done but to fill up the policy and deliver it, on the one hand, and pay the premium on the other.” The plaintiff in that case relied upon testimony not to be distinguished in any essential particular from that on which the present plaintiff rests his case.
Five years and some months before the happening of the fire in this case the plaintiff had secured a policy from the defendant company insuring certain personal property against loss by fire for a period of five years from its date. That policy had by its terms expired some months before the loss occurred. The plaintiff had no policy at the date of the fire and his proof showed no then subsisting contract of insurance made by a duly authorized agent. The most he could prove was that at the time he received the policy
In this respect we think the case before us is practically on all fours with Benner v. Fire Association, supra, and we are but applying its principle in holding that the learned judge below was right in entering a compulsory nonsuit and thereafter refusing to take it off. “ In the present case the testimony to establish the alleged contract is too vague. Although it is repeated in several different forms upon the notes, we have stated it most strongly for the plaintiff. And yet what have we? A conversation between the plaintiff and the agent of the defendant company about renewing another insurance, in which the former said to
In the present case the plaintiff testifies that when he took out his policy more than five years before the fire, he said to the agent, "Now, Mr. Etter, will you renew this policy when it falls due and keep the insurance alive? He said that he would.” At a later period, whilst the policy was still in force, but the end of the period covered by it was approaching, the plaintiff further says, “I called his attention to it and asked him whether he would renew it and he said that he would.”
In both cases the evidence disclosed no more than a naked promise by the agent that he would, at some future time, enter into a contract of insurance for his company. This is not the equivalent of a present contract of insurance to become effective at a fixed future date. The learned court below was therefore right in refusing to take off the nonsuit.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Etter v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Insurance — Fire insurance — Executory contract — Evidence. 1. An executory contract of fire insurance in the future may be valid and binding, but the testimony to establish it must show clearly the subject-matter of the insurance, the amount and elements of the risk, including its duration in point of time, and extent in point of hazard assumed, the rate of premium, and generally all the circumstances which are peculiar to the contract and distinguish it from every other, so that nothing remains to be done but to fill up the policy and deliver it, on the one hand, and pay the premium, on the other. 2. Where a person takes out a policy of fire insurance for five years, and asks the agent to renew the policy when it falls due, and keep the insurance alive, and the agent promised to do so, but fails to perform his promise, and nothing is said at the time as to the length, or term of the new insurance, or the rate or amount to be paid, or the property covered, the insurance company cannot be held as on a binding contract.