Hudson v. Lincoln Casualty Co.

285 S.W. 535, 221 Mo. App. 633, 1926 Mo. App. LEXIS 150
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 24, 1926
StatusPublished

This text of 285 S.W. 535 (Hudson v. Lincoln Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hudson v. Lincoln Casualty Co., 285 S.W. 535, 221 Mo. App. 633, 1926 Mo. App. LEXIS 150 (Mo. Ct. App. 1926).

Opinion

ARNOLD, J.

This is an action to recover on a policy of automobile insurance. Defendant is a corporation organized and existing *634 under the laws of the State of Illinois .with headquarters at Springfield, Ill., and authorized to do business in the State of Missouri. The Rullman Auto Company, one of the plaintiffs, was a corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the State of Missouri, engaged in the purchase and sale of automobiles, chiefly second hand, and located at St. Joseph, Mo.

On or about June 19, 1923, plaintiff B. H. Hudson, a resident of St. Joseph, purchased from the Rullman Auto Co., a Peerless automobile, touring ear model, 1921, and gave in payment therefor, a secondhand Dodge touring car for which he had paid $350,, encumbered by a mortgage for $120, and on which he expended a considerable sum for repairs, and in addition, gave his note and mortgage on the Peerless car for $500, payable in monthly installments of $35 each, to which were added $45 as carrying charges. He also paid over to the Rullman Company $21 premium for the insurance required by them on the Peerless ear. *

The Rullman Company told Hudson they thought he could get the ear insured for $1200. The matter of placing the insurance was in the hands of the Rullman Company who conferred with defendant about it, with the result that defendant wrote a policy for $1200 on on the ear, covering, among other things, loss by fire. The record shows that four or.five days after Hudson’s purchase of the Peerless car the agent of defendant started to Hudson’s house to see the car and met Hudson on the road. Hudson testified the agent looked at the car and that nothing was said about the price he had paid for it. He further testified he had never talked to defendant’s agent about the ear at any other time. Hudson testified that a formal application for the insurance was prepared by the agent and signed by Hudson, who cannot read nor write, except his name. The heading of the application is as follows:

“Lincoln Casualty Company Application
No. A-25337
“A” Amount Fire or Theft Insured $1200.00
(See Company’s Limits and Prohibitive List)
To be filled in by agent.
Coverage Amount of Insurance Premium
Fire rate, $70 $1200 Amount, $ 8.40
Theft rate, $75 $1200 Amount $ 9.00
Total Premium $17.40
1. Name B. H. Hudson, Address, St. Joseph, Mo.”

Sec. 15 of the application is as follows:

“The actual cost to the assured of the above-described automobile, without additional equipment, if any. . . .”

*635 It is in evidence that Hudson paid a considerable sum for repairs on the car after purchasing it.

The policy issued on July 21, 1923, upon said application^ provided for payment of loss, if any, to the Hullman Auto Company as their interest mig'ht appear, and the policy was delivered to that company and was never in possession of plaintiff Hudson.

About midnight on August 9, 1923, Hudson was driving the car south of St. Joseph in the direction of Bean Lake when rain began falling and the roads became slippery. He decided to return to St. Joseph and in endeavoring to turn around, the ear skidded from the road, the front end thereof going into a ditch alongside. Efforts to get the car out of the ditch under its own power were unsuccessful and resulted in the engine becoming “red hot:” Later an effort was made by a friend of Hudson to pull the car out by means of another automobile, but it appears the engine of the Peerless car was lower than gasoline tank and the engine again raced until it became “red hot,” with the result that the car caught fire and was badly damaged. There is some dispute as to the extent of the damage. Plaintiff claims total destruction while defendant declares the body and wiring only were totally destro3red and that the tires and accessories were not destroyed nor the engine damaged. Being unable to extricate the car from the ditch it was left in its predicament.

The exact date of the notice of loss and to whom it was given are somewhat hazy, but it is clear that a report of the loss w,as made and that, later, plaintiff Hudson, in the office of one of defendant’s counsel did make a statement giving details of the loss. It appears that in this statement, Hudson was not asked as to the purchase price of the car and made no statement relative to it; that on investigation defendant learned from the B.ullman Company that the purchase price was $900; and thereupon Hudson was notified by letter that he must state the purchase price of the car before any settlement would be made; that unless an agreement could be reached, arbitration or appraisement would be insisted upon. Hudson refused to make any further statement about the matter, having alreadiq as above stated, answered all the questions asked him. He then was notified that information as to the actual purchase price of the car must be given before further negotiations would be held. This suit followed.

The petition is formal and alleges the facts relative to the issuance of the policy wherein defendant promised and agreed to indemnify plaintiff to the extent of $1200 against destruction of the car by fire, loss, if any, payable to Bullman Auto Compaq, as its interest might appear; that on August 9, 1923, while said policy was in full force, the car was wholly destroyed by fire; that defendant was duly notified of the destruction of the car and proofs of loss were furnished. *636 That plaintiff has complied with all the terms and conditions of said policy; that at the date of the issuance of the policy and at the date of the fire, plaintiff B. EL. Hudson was the owner of the car and the Rullman Auto Co., the holder of the mortgage thereon. Vexatious delay is charged and the statutory penalty and attorney’s fee of $250 is asked.

The amended answer admits defendant’s corporate status, that it issued the policy as stated in the petition, upon the application of plaintiff Hudson, and makes general denial of all other allegations of the petition. The answer specifically sets our paragraph 12 of the conditions and regulations of the policy relative to arbitration by appraisement in the. event of disagreement. The answer further avers, as affirmative defense, that defendant requested plaintiff Hudson to submit to appraisers the question of the amount of damages to the insured car, as provided by paragraph 12 of the policy; that submission of the question to appraisers under the provisions of the policy is a condition precedent to bringing an action to enforce payment of the policy.

Further, the answer states that after the fire, plaintiff Hudson abandoned the car upon the highway and failed to notify defendant or its agents of the whereabouts of the care and by reason thereof, the car was stripped of many accessories by persons unknown to defendant. The amended answer further pleads paragraph 14 of the conditions and regulations of the policy, as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
285 S.W. 535, 221 Mo. App. 633, 1926 Mo. App. LEXIS 150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hudson-v-lincoln-casualty-co-moctapp-1926.