Fisk v. Kildare Truck Line, Inc.

112 So. 2d 310, 1959 La. App. LEXIS 701
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 25, 1959
DocketNo. 21127
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 112 So. 2d 310 (Fisk v. Kildare Truck Line, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fisk v. Kildare Truck Line, Inc., 112 So. 2d 310, 1959 La. App. LEXIS 701 (La. Ct. App. 1959).

Opinion

McBRIDE, Judge.

This is a suit by an insurance broker for the earned premium on three insurance policies issued by Universal Underwriters covering a fleet of motor vehicles owned and operated by Kildare Truck Line, Inc., which was engaged in the business of common carrier by motor vehicle. The policies covered the insured against automobile liability and material damage for the year beginning May 9, 1954, and ending May 9, 1955. The insured on July 14, 1954, directed the broker to effect cancellation of the policies effective as of July 1, 1954. The policies were can-celled by the insurer on a short rate basis, and whereas the insured had not paid the premium, it charged back to plaintiff, as the agent who secured the policies for Kildare Truck Line, Inc., the amount due for the earned premium, viz., $1,934.32, and plaintiff now seeks to recover said amount from Kildare Truck Line, Inc. (now in liquidation) and its liquidators.

[312]*312In answer the defendants, among other things, set up that plaintiff in securing the policies for Kildare Truck Line failed to follow instructions, and the policies afforded insufficient coverage, and the assured acted reasonably in requesting cancellation of the policies and that it had cause to do so under the circumstances. Defendants also allege that they should be charged only on a pro-rata basis for the time the insurance remained in effect.

After a lengthy trial in the court below, plaintiff recovered judgment for $1,222.08 which would be the amount due had the policies been cancelled on a prorata basis, the judge evidently being of the opinion that plaintiff, who was the insurance agent, should not be permitted to recover, under the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the policies, the amount which would be due upon cancellation of the policies on the higher short rate basis. The plaintiff has appealed and so have the defendants. Plaintiff makes the contention that the amount of the judgment should have been fixed according to the short rate schedule as set forth in the contracts of insurance, which was the amount the insurer charged to plaintiff and which is the actual amount due by defendants. Defendants do not pretend that the trial judge erred in applying the prorata formula in determining the amount of premiums due, but they insist that the amount of the judgment should be decreased by a credit which is due them representing what would be the premium for certain coverage they allege was not effected due to an exclusion clause which appears in one of the policies.

Each of the three policies of insurance contains provisions to the effect that if the policy be cancelled by the assured, the underwriters shall retain the earned premium thereon for the period that the policies have been in force on the short rate proportion as set out therein.

The statutory law in this state governing cancellations of insurance policies is LSA-R.S. 22:637, which provides in paragraph B that when the cancellation is made by the insured, “Following such cancellation the insurer shall pay to the insured or to the person entitled thereto as shown by the insurer’s records, any unearned portion of any premium paid on the policy as computed on the customary short rate or as otherwise specified in the policy.”

See, also, Fisk v. Rowe, La.App., 91 So.2d 65; Hanover Fire Ins. Co. v. Southern Amusement Co., Inc., La.App., 150 So. 92; and Central Surety & Insurance Corporation v. Canulette Shipbuilding Co., Inc., La.App., 195 So. 114.

Defendants recognize the law of the state to be as above stated, but counsel on their behalf in his brief says: “To the extent that [LSA-] R.S. 22:637~B permits the charging of the short-rate, it is, by its own terms, applicable as between the insurer and the person entitled thereto as shown by the insurer’s records.” This is perfectly true. We are not concerned whether the insurer is entitled to the earned premium for the period that the policies were in force on the short rate proportion; the plaintiff before us is not the insurer which issued the policies but the procuring agent or broker against whom the insurer charged back the earned premium.

Defendants’ real defense as we understand it is that the plaintiff in his role of broker and agent for Kildare Truck Line was negligent and derelict in his duty in the manner of obtaining the policies for said insured and he is accordingly responsible for any damage it sustained, which they seek to measure as the difference between the short rate proportion of the premiums and the amount computed on a prorata basis, which difference, they insist, the broker should be made to absorb. It is argued plaintiff was negligent in several respects, but we need not examine into all of the charges made, it being sufficient to say that the evidence in the case definitely shows that the plaintiff in securing the insurance coverage did not properly represent Kildare Truck Line and [313]*313secured policies which did not adequately or sufficiently coyer the insured’s requirements.

For the preceding year plaintiff as broker had procured for Kildare Truck Line certain policies with Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company, and when the expiration date thereof approached, the insured instructed plaintiff to renew the insurance for the then coming year. On May 3, 19S4, plaintiff testified he advised Kildare Truck Line by letter that Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company was unwilling to renew and that the risk was not acceptable to any other of plaintiff’s mutual carriers of insurance. The letter further stated plaintiff thought the required insurance coverage could be effected with Lloyd’s of London through Universal Underwriters. Defendants deny receipt of said letter. On May 7, 1954, plaintiff addressed another letter to Kildare Truck Line, Inc., stating that he was renewing the vehicle fleet policies effective May 9, 1954, on the same basis as the Lumbermens policies expiring on that date. The letter specifically stated that:

“ * * * Coverage will include, as at present, Bodily Injury Liability with limits of $50,000 each person, $150,000 each accident; Property Damage in amount of $100,000 per accident; Fire, Theft and Combined additional Coverage as per Schedule.”

Plaintiff forwarded to the insured a binder in letter form evidencing such insurance coverage, and for some reason or other which does not clearly appear, the policies themselves were not sent to the insured until after July 15, 1954, a day or so subsequent to the insured’s order for cancellation.

Although on May 7, 1954, plaintiff had advised Kildare Truck Line that he was renewing its vehicle fleet policies on the same basis as the Lumbermens policies, the new policies he secured from Universal Underwriters were not on the same basis and the extent of the insurance protection thereunder was vastly different from and much more limited in scope than the coverage which the prior policies afforded the insured. The premiums on the Universal policies were also much greater.

Under the Lumbermens policies the insured’s vehicles were covered by the insurance within a territory or radius of 150 miles. This was expressed in one of the Lumbermens policies thus:

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Bluebook (online)
112 So. 2d 310, 1959 La. App. LEXIS 701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fisk-v-kildare-truck-line-inc-lactapp-1959.