McMillan v. American General Ins. Co.
McMillan v. American General Ins. Co.
Opinion of the Court
On January 20, 1931, Mrs. McMillan owned as her separate property all the household furniture on the second floor of the two-story building at 2737 Twenty-Ninth street, Port Arthur, Tex. On that day Great Lakes Insurance Company issued to her a policy of fire insurance on “household furniture,” etc., described generally as being located in this two-story house. The policy was issued in renewal of another policy issued to Mrs. McMillan for the sum of $500 covering the property on the second floor, while at a prior location. The agent who wrote both policies
The suit was by Mrs. Tommie McMillan, as administratrix of her husband’s estate, against American General Insurance Company, to recover the $1,000 claimed under the policy issued to Mr. McMillan on the 18th of March, 1932: Verdict was instructed in fa? vor of the defendant on the conclusion of the trial court that Mrs. McMillan’s policy violated the provisions of the “other contract of insurance” clause, quoted above.
The instruction was error. The. law does not favor forfeitures. Though the description of the property covered by the two policies was identical, except as to ownership, the issue was raised that Mr. McMillan and appellee intended to insure only the community property and that Mrs. McMillan and her insurance company intended to insure only her separate property. Parol evidence was admissible to prove that issue. In Westchester Fire Insurance Co. v. Storm, 6 Tex. Civ. App. 390, 25 S. W. 318, 319, it was said: “It has also been held that parol evidence may be admissible to show that the property, though apparently identical in two policies, is not in fact identical. May, Ins. § 367; Clark v. Ins. Co., 9 Gray [Mass.] 148; Storer v. Ins. Co., 45 Me. 175.”
Also the material fact was in the case that these policies were issued respectively to the owners of the property insured, which, in the absence of a commingling, was eviden-tiary on the issue of identification. Royston v. McCulley (Tenn. Ch. App.) 59 S. W. 725, 52 L. R. A. 899. Though the property was all covered by the same general description, where there was no commingling and the intent was to insure the several parcels by different policies, the “other contract of insurance” condition was not breached. Norwich Fire Ins. Soc. v. Cheaney Bros., 61 Tex. Civ. App. 220, 128 S. W. 1163 (writ of error refused), directly in point.
If appellee’s counter propositions be conceded, (a) that the husband may insure the wife’s separate property in his own name, and (b) that the wife may insure the community property in her own name, which we do not concede, yet the instructed verdict was error, for the reason that the issue was raised that the husband did not intend to insure the wife’s property and the wife did not intend to insure the community property.
The testimony was that the husband knew that the wife was going to take out her insurance policy before it was issued and that he knew of its issuance and acquiesced therein. That testimony does not support the instructed verdict, for the reason that the issue was raised that they both intended that it should cover only her separate property.
The evidence does not support the conclusion, as a matter of law, that appellee, in issuing the policy to Mr. McMillan, intended to cover all the property in the house, both the community and the separate property of Mrs. McMillan; so, appellee’s counter proposition to that effect does not support its instructed verdict.
The judgment of the lower court is reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.