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Evans v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

559 P.2d 574, 16 Wash. App. 704, 1977 Wash. App. LEXIS 1844
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided January 10, 1977·No. No. 3171-1·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Williams, C.J.

Steven M. and Diane Evans brought this action against State Farm automobile insurance company to recover on an insurance policy for losses they sustained in an automobile collision. The cause was tried to the court sitting without a jury and resulted in judgment for the Evans. State Farm’s appeal raises the single issue of the existence of the policy at the time of the accident.

■ The Evans submitted evidence to prove that State Farm issued Steven Evans a policy of collision insurance covering his car in 1969, and that the policy was renewed every 6 months thereafter. The premium payments were made to the State Farm agent nearest where they were living. Sometimes the payments were late and sometimes partial. When the balance on a premium was overdue, State Farm [705] customarily sent a notice by certified mail stating that the policy would be cancelled if payment was not made in 10 days.

In October 1971, the Evans moved from Bellevue to Granite Falls. They sent a change of address to State Farm and expected to be given the name of the agent in their new locality. When that information was not forthcoming, the Evans sent a second change of address and then, on January 17, 1972, drove to the Everett office of State Farm. There, an employee called the Bellevue office and told the Evans that their records were en route. Later on the day of their visit to the Everett office, the automobile collision occurred. This was during the 6-months premium period of December 26,1971, to June 26,1972.

Prior to that, in November 1971, the Evans received a notice from State Farm which stated in part as follows:

On December 30, 1971, State Farm sent the Evans another notice as follows:

[706]

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Evans v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, 559 P.2d 574, 16 Wash. App. 704, 1977 Wash. App. LEXIS 1844 (Wash. Ct. App. 1977).

559 P.2d 574 (Evans v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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