Burch v. Hartford Fire Insurance

259 P. 1108, 85 Cal. App. 542, 1927 Cal. App. LEXIS 482
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 22, 1927
DocketDocket No. 3275.
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 259 P. 1108 (Burch v. Hartford Fire Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burch v. Hartford Fire Insurance, 259 P. 1108, 85 Cal. App. 542, 1927 Cal. App. LEXIS 482 (Cal. Ct. App. 1927).

Opinion

PLUMMER, J.

Plaintiff had judgment in the sum of $8,625 upon a certain policy of insurance covering costs of *544 the production of a crop of barley belonging to the plaintiff and insured by the defendant. From this judgment the defendant appeals.

The transcript shows that on or about the first day Of March, 1921, the plaintiff applied to the defendant for insurance in the sum of $20,700 on 1725 acres of wheat and 1724 acres of barley, to wit: $12,075 on the wheat and $8,625 on the barley. Both the wheat and the barley referred to were then .and there seeded and growing upon certain premises situate in the county of Fresno, state of California. The application for insurance upon the seeded wheat crop was set forth in the application as item number one, upon which the premium, calculated at ten per cent, amounted to the sum of $1,207.50. The application for insurance upon the seeded barley crop was and is known as item number two, upon which the premium, calculated at eight per cent, amounted to the sum of $690. The application further set forth in item number two that the insurance was to cover a two-thirds interest in the barley crdp and not to exceed $5 per acre. In the calculation of the amount of insurance applied for in the application it appears that the amount of the premium was figured by the applicant as though the barley crop included 1725 acres instead of only 1724 acres. The insurance applied for under the application being considered was for the purpose of insuring the applicant against loss on account of the expenses incurred by him in plowing, seeding, irrigating, threshing, etc., of the crop then being upon the 1724 acres referred to. The schedule of costs filed by the applicant is as follows: Plowing, $2 per acre; harrowing, 40 cents per acre; seed, $1.50 per acre; seeding, 50 cents per acre; irrigating, $1.50 per acre; checking, 60 cents per acre; harvesting, $3 per acre; sacks and hauling, 75 cents per acre; total cost, $10.25 per acre.

The application, among other things, included the following:

“The insurance applied for hereunder is not binding until application is approved by the General Agent at San Francisco and policy is delivered to applicant. I also agree that this application is made with specific reference to the statements and representations above contained, a duplicate of which application is to be attached to my policy of in *545 surance issued by the Hartford Fire Insurance Company at Hartford, Connecticut, which, in addition to the printed portion of said policy and endorsements attached, if any, constitute my contract with said Company. ’ ’

This application was signed by the plaintiff, W. E. Burch, on March 1, 1921. On the eighteenth day of March, 1921, the defendant issued and delivered to the plaintiff a policy of insurance covering the cost of the barley crop, herein referred to, but declining the application of the plaintiff to insure the cost of the wheat crop referred to in the application. This policy contained the following indorsement:

“Endorsement.
“In consideration of $1207.50 return premium, the first item of this policy covering $12,075.00 on 1725 acres of wheat is hereby cancelled leaving in force only $8625.00 covering 2/3rd interest on 1724 acres of barley being 2nd item of this policy, it being understood and agreed that for the purposes of this insurance each item of schedule of costs on barley item is reduced to 5.00/10.25ths of the amounts shown in application. Attached to and made a part of Crop Investment Policy C-2667 issued by the Hartford Fire Insurance Company.
“March 18, 1921.
“Dixwell Hewitt,
“General Agent.
“EG.”

The policy, having this indorsement upon the face thereof, together with a check for the return of $1,207.50 premium on the wheat crop, was sent to the applicant through the mails and appears to have been received by one Taylor, a son-in-law of the plaintiff, and upon the return and receipt of the policy it appears that Taylor stated to the plaintiff that the defendant had refused to insure the cost of the wheat crop and had returned the premium thereon. It does not appear that there was any conversation further in relation to the insurance on the barley crop. The plaintiff testified that he did not read the policy nor the indorsement until after a loss had occurred; that the policy was placed in a safe deposit box belonging to the plaintiff and remained there until the barley crop had become a loss.

*546 By the indorsement upon the policy the insurance is made to cover only 5.00/10.25ths or a fraction less than one-half of the cost of each particular item of loss insured against.

On the part of the plaintiff it is contended that as the loss exceeded the sum of $8,625, plaintiff is entitled to recover said sum, irrespective of the fact that the indorsement purports to cover a fraction less than one-half of each item of expenditure incurred by the plaintiff.

On the part of the defendant it is contended that each item of loss is insured only to the extent of a fraction less than one-half thereof, and that as the plaintiff did not incur a total loss of all of the items insured against, the defendant’s liability extends only to the extent of 5.00/10.25ths or a fraction less than one-half of each of the items of loss.

The contention of the plaintiff or respondent is further to the effect that the indorsement on the policy, in so far as it limits the liability of the appellant to a fraction less that one-half of the estimated cost of producing the crop, is void even though the application signed by the appellant limits the insurance applied for to a sum not exceeding $5 per acre, which is a fraction less than one-half the estimated cost of producing the crop. If we accept the indorsement of the policy as a part thereof in the language in which it is written, the insurance, so far as any loss was incurred by the plaintiff, would be covered as follows: Plowing, 98 cents per acre; discing or harrowing, 20 cents per acre; irrigating, 73 cents per acre; seed, 73 cents per acre; seeding, 24 cents per acre; checking, 29 cents per acre. These figures are arrived at by taking 5.00/10.25ths of the estimated cost of each item. The record further shows that 1150 acres of the 1724 acres were not irrigated. Thus, $839.50 of the cost insured against was not incurred at all. By this calculation plaintiff’s net loss covered by insurance and which he was entitled to recover amounted to the sum of $4,625.58.

By the complaint filed in this action the plaintiff took the position in the trial court and also contends upon this appeal that the policy of insurance fixes a liability upon the defendant in the sum of $8,625, irrespective of the fact that the insurance is limited to a fraction less than one-half of each item of cost set forth in the schedule filed by the applicant. This, on the theory that the plaintiff’s application *547

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
259 P. 1108, 85 Cal. App. 542, 1927 Cal. App. LEXIS 482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burch-v-hartford-fire-insurance-calctapp-1927.