Keil Motor Co. v. Royal Insurance Co., Ltd., of Liverpool

171 A. 201, 36 Del. 24, 6 W.W. Harr. 24, 1933 Del. LEXIS 41
CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedSeptember 22, 1933
DocketAction of Assumpsit on insurance policy, No. 146
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 171 A. 201 (Keil Motor Co. v. Royal Insurance Co., Ltd., of Liverpool) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keil Motor Co. v. Royal Insurance Co., Ltd., of Liverpool, 171 A. 201, 36 Del. 24, 6 W.W. Harr. 24, 1933 Del. LEXIS 41 (Del. Ct. App. 1933).

Opinion

Harrington, J.,

delivering the opinion of the Court:

It appears from the pleadings that the automobile covered by the policy sued on was destroyed by fire on December 16, 1929; that the proof of loss was filed by the plaintiff [28]*28company some time after May 8, 1930, and that suit was brought against the defendant in this action on December 18, 1930.

The defendant’s fourth and fifth pleas respectively allege as defenses to the plaintiff’s action on the policy:

1. That its proof of loss was not filed with the defendant company within ten days after it became aware of the “loss or damage- to said automobile, which impaired the interest of the assured” therein, as was provided by such policy. .

2. That its action was not brought “within twelve months next after the happening of the loss,” as was, also, provided by the policy.

The amended replication to the fourth plea alleges that the defendant waived the defense therein set forth:

1. By statements made by its agent to the plaintiff’s representative, both before and after the expiration of the time prescribed by the policy for filing the proof of loss.

2. By the letter of the defendant company of May 8, 1930, a copy of which was sent by it to the plaintiff and which was, also, attached to that replication.

The defendant company demurred to this replication because:

1. It did not allege that the agent of the company therein referred to had the authority to waive any of the provisions of the policy.

2. That the statements in the letter of May 8, 1930, could not be construed to operate as a waiver of the condition of the policy relating to the filing of the plaintiff’s proof of loss.

3. That in any event such letter could not amount to anything more than an implied waiver of the condition of [29]*29the policy, and that such a waiver, after the expiration of the time prescribed for filing the proof of loss, would not be a sufficient reply to the defendant’s plea because to operate .as a waiver it must necessarily be based on the elements of estoppel.

Both of the replications to the fifth plea are, also, based on the letter of May 8, 1930, which is referred to in and made a part of them. In these replications the plaintiff alleges, in substance, that the clause of the policy referred to in the defendant’s plea cannot prevent the plaintiff from recovering on such policy because:

1. The defendant company led the plaintiff to believe that if suit was promptly docketed against Sarah M. Turner, the owner of the automobile destroyed, and that if the plaintiff was unable to collect anything from her, that its claim against the defendant would be promptly paid; that suit was docketed accordingly but due to necessary delays judgment was not rendered against the said Sarah M. Turner until December 5,1930, and that it was not until shortly before December 18, 1930, when suit was brought on the policy, that the plaintiff learned that nothing could be collected on that judgment. The replication, in question, then further alleges that the year, “allowed by the insurance company was unreasonable in the light of the demands made by the defendant corporation.”

2. That the defendant led the plaintiff to believe that no liability existed under the policy until final judgment had been rendered in the case of Keil Motor Company v. Sarah M. Turner, and that the letter of May 8, 1930, attached to that replication so stakes; that the defendant company, therefore, interpreted the word “loss” in the policy to mean loss as of the date when the plaintiff failed, by legal process, to collect from Sarah M. Turner; that the plaintiff accepted that interpretation of the defendant’s contract, and upon being notified by the Sheriff'of Kent County that Sarah M. [30]*30Turner had no goods and chattels, the plaintiff immediately brought suit on the policy.

This replication further alleges that “the word ‘loss’ is to be construed to mean loss after failure tó collect from the purchaser of the car and the endorser of the note.”

Waiver has been defined by this court to be the intentional relinquishment of a known right, or such conduct as warrants an inference of such an intent (Jones v. Savin, 6 Boyce 68, 96 A. 756; Id., 6 Boyce 180, 97 A. 591; O’Neil v. Cooles, 3 W. W. Harr. (33 Del.) 541, 140 A. 648); and, when properly alleged in the pleadings, if there is any evidence to support such an allegation, waiver is usually a question of fact for the jury to determine. Jones v. Savin, 6 Boyce 68, 96 A. 756; Id., 6 Boyce 180, 97 A. 591; O’Neil v. Cooles, 3 W. W. Harr. (33 Del.) 541,140 A. 648.

The clauses in the policy sued on, prescribing the time for filing the plaintiff’s proof of loss and the time for bringing suit on such policy are both for the benefit of the insurance company and may, therefore, be waived by it, or by its duly authorized agent, when such waiver is properly alleged and proved. Reed v. Continental Ins. Co., 6 Penn. 204, 65 A. 569; Emory v. Ins. Co., 7 Penn. 102, 76 A. 230; McKenney v. Diamond State Loan Ass’n, 8 Houst. 557, 18 A. 905; 2 May on Ins., § 488; Cooley’s Briefs on Ins., §§ 6848, 6858.

The defendant company claims that waiver is necessarily based on some element of estoppel and that there can, therefore, be no implied waiver of the prescribed time for filing the plaintiff’s proof of loss after that time has expired.

The distinction between waiver and estoppel, especially in insurance cases, has not always been clearly drawn by the courts, but even conceding that the rule relied on by the defendant company has been applied by some courts (Globe [31]*31Mut. L. Ins. Co. v. Wolff, 95 U. S. 326, 24 L. Ed. 387; Chandler v. John Hancock Mutual Life Ins. Co., 180 Mo. App. 394, 167 S. W. 1162; Engebretson v. Hekla Fire Ins. Co., 58 Wis. 301, 17 N. W. 5; Aronson v. Frankfort Accident & Plate Glass Ins. Co., 9 Cal. App. 473, 99 P. 537), it is apparent from Jones v. Savin, 6 Boyce 68, 96 A. 756; Id., 6 Boyce 180, 97 A. 591, supra, that it does not apply here and that if the facts justify it, there may be a waiver of existing rights, even though no elements of estoppel are involved in the facts proved. Reed v. Continental Ins. Co., 6 Penn. 204, 65 A. 569, cited by the defendant, is not inconsistent with this conclusion, though under the facts of that particular case some of the elements of estoppel may have existed.

It is not contended that the replication to the fourth plea is double (1 Chitty’s PI. 231, 640) and we, therefore, need not consider that question; but the defendant company does contend that where waiver by an agent is relied on in the pleadings his authority in that respect must, also, be alleged. Technically speaking, perhaps, it would be more accurate to allege that the principal, by its agent, in that behalf, had waived the provisions of the policy sued on. 3 Chitty’s PI. 117, 150.

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Bluebook (online)
171 A. 201, 36 Del. 24, 6 W.W. Harr. 24, 1933 Del. LEXIS 41, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keil-motor-co-v-royal-insurance-co-ltd-of-liverpool-delsuperct-1933.