Inland Mutual Insurance v. Stallings

263 F.2d 852
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 21, 1959
DocketNo. 7741
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 263 F.2d 852 (Inland Mutual Insurance v. Stallings) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Inland Mutual Insurance v. Stallings, 263 F.2d 852 (4th Cir. 1959).

Opinion

SOBELOFF, Chief Judge.

Inland Mutual Insurance Company brought suit for declaratory judgment to determine its obligations to Clifton W. Stallings and to persons making claims against him for injuries sustained in an automobile collision. Inland’s liability, if any, arises from an automobile liability policy issued to Stallings pursuant to the Maryland Financial Responsibility Law.

[854]*854The policy, issued in February, 1956, covered a 1951 Ford, the only motor vehicle then owned by Stallings. On July 3, 1956, he purchased an additional car, a 1950 Ford, but Inland was not notified and did not learn of it until August 8. On July 14, 1956, Stallings was involved in an accident while driving the recently acquired 1950 Ford.

“Newly Acquired Automobile” Clause

Inland’s policy contained Insuring Agreement IV(a)(4), entitled “Newly Acquired Automobile,” which extends coverage to:

“an automobile, ownership of which is acquired by the named insured who is the owner of the described automobile, if the named insured notifies the company within thirty days following the date of its delivery to him, and if either it replaces an automobile described in this policy or the company insures all automobiles owned by the named insured at such delivery date; but the insurance with respect to the newly acquired automobile does not apply to any loss against which the named insured has other valid and collectible insurance. The named insured shall pay any additional premium required because of the application of the insurance to such newly acquired automobile.”

The District Judge held that this clause extended coverage to the 1950 Ford at the time of the accident.

1. That Stallings did not notify Inland within thirty days after acquiring the 1950 Ford is inconsequential, for coverage under this provision is automatically effected on the newly acquired automobile for thirty days irrespective of notice, and as here, the insured is protected against liability accruing within that time. The cases so hold almost without exception. Western Casualty & Surety Company v. Lund, 10 Cir., 1956, 234 F.2d 916, 919; Hoffman v. Illinois Nat. Casualty Co., 7 Cir., 1947, 159 F.2d 564, 566; 34 A.L.R.2d 936, 944.

Appellant’s reliance upon Wilkins v. Inland Mutual Ins. Co., 4 Cir., 1958, 253 F.2d 489, is unwarrantable, for this decision is not in conflict with the District Court’s holding in the present case. Involved in Wilkins was a question of the coverage of a specified automobile after the death of its owner, the insured. The clause substituting the personal representative as the insured, with the power in him then, under the omnibus clause, to authorize others to operate the car at the insurer’s risk, was conditioned on notice of death being given within sixty days. The case at bar is wholly different. It involves no problem of change of risk by substituting an unknown insured for the one named, but relates to an insurer’s liability for damages caused by the person named in the policy while operating an after-acquired vehicle.

2. Nor is automatic coverage-limited to replacement vehicles, as the-appellant claims, for the clause speaks in-the alternative and applies where the described vehicle is replaced or where the company insures all automobiles then owned by the insured. It would be unwarranted and arbitrary to restrict this, rule to one, rather than both, of the situations provided for. Birch v. Harbor Ins. Co., 1954, 126 Cal.App.2d 714, 272 P.2d 784.

3. Inland contends that it did not insure all automobiles owned by Stallings when the 1950 Ford was delivered to him on July 3, since the records, of the Department of Motor Vehicles show that on July 3 Stallings was not only the owner of the 1951 Ford, insured, by Inland, but also owned a 1948 Ford, not insured by it. The District Judge’s-finding as a fact that on July 3 Stallingsowned only the 1951 Ford is amply supported by the evidence. Stallings’ testimony, uncontradicted, was that one week before July 3 he delivered possession of' the 1948 car and the certificate of title thereto to Dorsey Gray, an automobile-dealer. Such delivery and assignment of title were sufficient to pass ownership at. that time if the parties so intended, Md. Code (1957), Uniform Sales Act, Art. 83„ [855]*855'See. 36(1), even though there has not been compliance with the registration law of the state. Hofslund v. Metropolitan Casualty Ins. Co. of New York, 7 Cir., 1951, 188 F.2d 188. Moreover, the registration records are of little significance in determining passing of title in this case, for the transferee, as a registered automobile dealer, was not required to forward the certificate of title to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Md. Code (1957), Art. 66%, Sec. 47(a).

4. Inland also submits that the provision referring to insuring all automobiles applies only where the policy is issued as a fleet policy to cover several automobiles, and is not applicable where the insured owns only one vehicle. No such distinction can be inferred from the wording of the policy. The same argument was rejected in Horace Mann Mutual Casualty Company v. Bell, D.C. W.D.Ark.1955, 134 F.Supp. 307. Home Mut. Ins. Co. of Iowa v. Rose, 8 Cir., 1945, 150 F.2d 201, relied on by Inland, is only dictum to the contrary.

The “Newly Acquired Automobile” clause, we conclude in agreement with the District Court, extended automatic coverage to the 1950 Ford on July 14, 1956, the date of the collision.1

Maryland Financial Responsibility Law

Stallings’ driver’s license had been revoked for three moving traffic violations occurring before he was twenty-one years of age. To regain his license he was required to furnish “proof of his continuing financial responsibility in the future.” Md.Code (1957), Art. 66%, Sec. 118(b). Sec. 139(a) 2 of the Maryland Financial Responsibility Law allows a person to furnish such proof by obtaining insurance applying only to motor vehicles owned by him, but this limited “proof” restricts his lawful operation to those vehicles specifically designated or appropriately referred to in the proof filed. Such restriction is stamped on the driver’s license. The following subsection, 139(b), allows removal of such restriction if the person files proof of financial responsibility by reason of an “operator's policy of insurance, insuring such operator or chauffeur while operating any motor vehicle.” (Emphasis supplied.)

The policy Inland issued to Stallings covered the 1951 Ford and, in addition, included an “Operators Only Endorsement” insuring Stallings while operating any motor vehicle not owned by him.3 As proof of Stallings’ financial responsi[856]*856bility, Inland sent an SR22 certificate4 to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and in reliance upon this the Department issued Stallings an unrestricted driver’s license.

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Inland Mutual Insurance Company v. Stallings
263 F.2d 852 (Fourth Circuit, 1959)

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263 F.2d 852, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/inland-mutual-insurance-v-stallings-ca4-1959.