Bowling v. Hamblen County Motor Co.

66 S.W.2d 229, 16 Tenn. App. 52, 1932 Tenn. App. LEXIS 38
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedApril 16, 1932
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 66 S.W.2d 229 (Bowling v. Hamblen County Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bowling v. Hamblen County Motor Co., 66 S.W.2d 229, 16 Tenn. App. 52, 1932 Tenn. App. LEXIS 38 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1932).

Opinion

PORTRUM, J.

. In the fall of 1930, the complainant, W, L. Bowling-, operated a filling station in Jefferson County, and desiring to open a filling station in Grainger County, he entered into a partnership with a woman by the name of Lucile McBee Scaggs, but the Woman had no ready funds to put in the business, however, she owned a Chevrolet automobile. It was agreed that Bowling would allow her $250 on this automobile as her portion of the capital. A small store and lunch stand was to be operated in connection with this filling station. A building was secured and the business opened under the name of the “New Haven Filling Station.” The complainant testified it was necessary to oWn and operate an automobile in connection with this business, and he operated one in connection with his filling station in Jefferson County; so he and the woman went to Morristown, in Hamblen County, and purchased a Ford automobile from the Hamblen County Motor Company, trading in the Chevrolet for the down payment, and Bowling executed his notes for the deferred payments. The deferred payments were financed by the Commercial Credit Company, of Knoxville, which had an arrangement with the Motor Company to carry its undue paper under what is commonly known as the finance plan, and as a part of this plan the purchaser was required to pay to the seller, in addition to the purchase price, a premium for fire and theft insurance, which the seller and the Credit Company secured for him. Bowling executed his notes for the sum of $363.12, and later the insurance policy was sent to him. The coverage of this policy was $500.

In making application for the policy the car was described as a Ford roadster, Model No. 3922162, when as a matter of fact it should hav'e been described as a sport coupe, Model No. 3819612; the policy was issued upon the application and did not describe the car purchased. The Motor Company insists this error is attributable to the Finance Company, while this company insists the error is attributable to the Motor Company.

The car was purchased on October 13th, and on December 1st, the purchaser notified the Motor Company that the car had been stolen. In due time the insurance company was notified and sent an adjuster, who discovered that the policy did not describe or cover the car lost. And also insisted the car was not stolen, as defined in the policy. The insurance company declined to adjust the loss.

The complainant then brought this suit, suing first the insurance company upon its policy of insurance (but he did not seek a reforma *54 tion), and second, the Motor Company and the Finance Company, seeking a judgment against these companies in the event he could not recover on the policy of insurance because of their joint mistakes, or against the company committing the mistake. The Insurance Company answered denying liability; the Motor Company answered and disclaimed any mistake or negligence on its part; and the Finance Company answered denying any mistake or negligence on its part, but accusing the Motor Company of the mistake, as the Motor Company had accused it of the mistake, and it filed a cross-bill against the complainant, Bowling, and the Motor Company, seeking a recovery upon the note executed by Bowling and endorsed by the Motor Company. The company and Bowling answered the cross-bill, and the proof was taken.

The Chancellor found as a fact that the car was stolen, but that the complainant was not entitled to recover upon the policy of insurance because it did not describe the stolen car. He then found as a fact that the seller and the Finance Company undertook to procure a policy of theft insurance for the purchaser, and that the Finance Company was negligent in making the application for the insurance in that it described another car, and failed to correctly describe the car intended to be the insured. He then gave a judgment against the Finance Company and in favor of the complainant for the amount recoverable under this policy and ordered this judgment paid by the cancellation of the notes held by the Finance Company against the maker and the endorser, and after crediting this amount gave a judgment in favor of the complainant for the balance, or $137.74, and costs. The Insurance Company did not pray and perfect an appeal, but the other parties did.

The first assignment of the Commercial Credit Company is that the Court erred in finding that the car was stolen; and the Insurance Company in its reply brief insists that it is entitled to rely upon this defense in this court as an additional reason why the decree of the lower court should be affirmed in its favor.

The appellee, Bowling, insists that the appeal prayed by the Commercial Credit Company was a special appeal, and did not specify this error as the one appealed from, and for this reason the Credit Company cannot raise this issue in this court. We are referred to a decree which bears out this statement, but following this is an order vacating the decree, and then followed another decree, and while the prayer in this is a special prayer, it specified this and other issues as erroneous. Therefore, the Credit Company has the right to raise the issue here. The first proposition raised is that a partnership car placed in the possession of a partner is not the subject of' larceny by the partner who is in possession of the car. The second is, that if *55 it were larceny, then the theft by one partner of partnership property in his possession is expressly excepted from the provision of the policy, and the loss was expressly excluded. In the anwer to the cross-bill Bowling avers:

“Later, the filling station in Grainger County was located and she (Mrs. Scaggs) and your respondent leased the same. Mrs. Scaggs had no money and it was understood and agreed that your respondent would stock up and equip the filling station over there for the Chevrolet car that she was then in possession of. It was agreed that it would be necessary to have an automobile to accommodate that filling station as it was a considerable distance away from any town and for which it was necessary to buy supplies, etc. So that having purchased her interest in the Chevrolet he and she went to Morristown and traded in this Chevrolet car on the Ford coupe in question to which the title was made to him and of which he was the owner but which she was to use as understood between them. It was fully known to the Hamblen County Motor Company that the car was being used by her from the filling station in Grainger County, and she drove same to the Motor Company where other equipment was placed on same and where she bought gas.”

Bowling testified that he and Mrs. Scaggs were partners; he was asked: “Hid you put the money up?” He answered, “She swapped me her car and I was to allow her $250 for the Chevrolet automobile. ’ ’ And again, ‘ ‘ Then you were partners in that business over there and operated it as such?” He answered, “Yes, sir.”

He also testified that Mrs. Scaggs selected the Ford car, and that he told the salesman he would take the car which she selected. She was in charge of the filling station and used this car from October until December, when the complainant undertook to dissolve the partnership. He gives this version of the dissolution and the theft of the car:

“We went into business together over there and it was to be used to do the hauling. I had one at the lake I used to haul, etc., in connection with my business there.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 S.W.2d 229, 16 Tenn. App. 52, 1932 Tenn. App. LEXIS 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bowling-v-hamblen-county-motor-co-tennctapp-1932.