Chamberlain Banking House v. Reliance Insurance

80 N.W. 822, 59 Neb. 195, 1899 Neb. LEXIS 355
Nebraska Supreme Court·Decided November 9, 1899·No. No. 9,008·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Harrison, C. J.

It appears herein that George Zutayern, of Tecumseh, during 1894, applied to the defendant in error, hereinafter styled the company, for insurance against loss by fire on some property which he then and there owned, and a policy was issued to him, and that thereafter the insured property was destroyed by fire February 19,1895. Due notice was given and proofs of the loss made. The company refused or failed to pay the loss, and on June 5, 1895, Zutayern commenced an action in the county court of Johnson county against the company on the policy to recover the amount he claimed due him. The company interposed three defenses: that the action was prematurely brought; that the insured property, which .was personal, was incumbered at the time of insurance, of which fact the company had neither knowledge nor notice; and that the policy of insurance, after its issuance, had been assigned to one Andrew J. Simpson without notice to, or consent of, the company. As the result [197] of a trial Zutavern was given a judgment against the company in the full amount stated in the policy and demanded in the suit, $409.02. The judgment was rendered August 1.6,1895. On the same day the attorney for Zutavern filed a notice or statement of an' attorney’s lien in the sum of $100. On the 21st of the same month an undertaking was approved and filed, and on appeal of the action to the district court was perfected. On August 29,1895, the plaintiff in error, hereinafter designated the banking house, instituted an action in the county court of Johnson county against the said George O. Zutavern and others, in which there was a judgment on the same day by confession in the sum of $999. On the next day an execution was issued and delivered to the sheriff and on September 3, 1895, this was returned “no property found.” An affidavit was filed and summons in garnishment proceedings procured to issue, directed against the company, which was duly served, the day on which answer was required being October 5, 1895, at which time the company appeared and stated that it was indebted to Zutavern in the sum of $299.75. The banking house objected to the answer, as unsatisfactory and incomplete, and subsequently commenced this action against the company, alleging for cause that its answer in the garnishment proceeding was unsatisfactory and incomplete. In its answer in this present case, the company stated that prior to the time it was required to make disclosure in the garnishment proceeding, it and Zutavern had reached an agreement as to the amount it owed him as being $297.75, and which it had, in obedience to an order of the county court, paid into said court. The company further answered as follows: “For a second further and other defense this answering defendant says that after the payment of the money into court as aforesaid by this defendant, under the order of said court aforesaid, one Andrew Simpson, claiming the Said money to belong to him by reason of an assignment of the said defendant George O. Zutavern, filed a petition of intervention and [198] notified the Chamberlain Banking Company that he claimed the said money; that the plaintiff herein, the Chamberlain Banking Company, the judgment creditor who had caused the garnishment proceedings to issue, and under which this defendant had answered, and paid the money into court, appeared in response to the petition of intervention of said Simpson, and resisted the claim of the said Simpson to said money; that this defendant was not in anywise advised of said pending proceeding, and not in the said cause and court, and that upon a trial of said cause upon its merits it was adjudged that the said Chamberlain Banking Company was’ not entitled to said money paid in said garnishment, but that said Simpson was entitled thereto; that no appeal was taken from said order, and the same is in full force and effect and unreversed, and said money was paid over to said Simpson, and was by him paid to the Chamberlain Banking Company, in settlement and discharge of the liability of said Zutavern, upon which the said Simpson was a surety to said Chamberlain Banking Company, the plaintiff herein; that the Chamberlain Banking Company, by reason of the aforesaid, is, and of right ought to be, estopped from claiming anything as against this answering defendant, and is bound by the said judgment and proceedings of the court hereinbefore recited and alleged.” A trial of the issues resulted favorably to the company, and the defeated party has prosecuted an error proceeding to this court.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Chamberlain Banking House v. Reliance Insurance, 80 N.W. 822, 59 Neb. 195, 1899 Neb. LEXIS 355 (Neb. 1899).

80 N.W. 822 (Chamberlain Banking House v. Reliance Insurance) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Brandon Pierce v. Collection Associates, Inc.
779 F.3d 814 (Eighth Circuit, 2015)