Mein v. United States Car Testing Co.

184 N.E.2d 489, 115 Ohio App. 145, 20 Ohio Op. 2d 242, 1961 Ohio App. LEXIS 586
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 15, 1961
Docket2600
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 184 N.E.2d 489 (Mein v. United States Car Testing Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mein v. United States Car Testing Co., 184 N.E.2d 489, 115 Ohio App. 145, 20 Ohio Op. 2d 242, 1961 Ohio App. LEXIS 586 (Ohio Ct. App. 1961).

Opinion

Crawford, P. J.

This appeal on questions of law is taken from a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas entered in favor of the plaintiff, appellee herein, against the defendants, appellants herein, in the sum of $1,076.82, with interest. This judgment was based upon a judgment previously recovered in the District Court of Mead County, Kansas. The judgment appealed from was rendered by the court, a jury having been waived.

We have not been supplied with a bill of exceptions. The transcript and original papers, supplemented by the briefs, indicate that the Kansas judgment was rendered upon a cause of action in contract. Plaintiff claims it was a contract of insurance ; that defendants ’ entering into the contract constituted engaging in the insurance business in the state of Kansas within the meaning of Section 40-2002 of the General Statutes of Kansas without having been authorized to do so; that such activity rendered the defendants subject to the jurisdiction of the Kansas courts under the Unauthorized Insurance Act of that state; and that, accordingly, valid service was made upon the defendants imder favor of Section 40-2001 et seq. of the Gen *146 eral Statutes of Kansas. Defendants say the contract was not one of insurance but was one of warranty and that, therefore, the entire argument of the plaintiff fails and the Kansas court was without jurisdiction.

Several questions suggest themselves and have been touched upon in the briefs. However, both sides agree that the case turns upon the single question whether the contract between the parties was one of insurance.

Strictly speaking, in the absence of a bill of exceptions we do not have this crucial document before us. However, the parties having assumed its existence and provisions throughout their briefs and arguments, we deem it appropriate to consider the same in the form in which it partially appears in connection with the briefs. Dearbaugh v. Dearbaugh, 110 Ohio App., 540. Otherwise, appellants would be technically defeated for failure to exemplify the claimed error.

The contract was set forth in the briefs as follows and its form was not challenged:

“1. The United States Car Testing Company agrees to maintain the parts listed below in good repair on the above automobile, including both labor and parts for a period of one year from the above date.

[Parts listed.]

“2. Whenever any of the above parts require repair or replacement, within the period of this contract, the Company must be promtly notified.

“3. All repairs and replacements shall be performed or directed by an authorized representative of the Company.

“4. This maintenance contract applies solely to automobiles in personal use. It shall not apply in commercial or other use.

5. This contract is valid anywhere in the United States.

(Paragraphs 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the contract exclude from its coverage parts not specified in Paragraph 1, etc.)

It further contains the following language:

10. Repairs shall not be performed without prior notice to and authorization by the Company.

11. Failure to register this contract with the company within fifteen days after purchase of the car, shall render it void, *

*147 “* * * The Company further certifies that where so found, the defective parts have been corrected, and the present condition of all of the above parts is such, that they will give a minimum of one year’s service under normal usage and wear. * * *

“The Company shall not be liable for any consequential damage; nor for injury to persons or property resulting from failure of the above warranted parts. * * *

“The Company does not assume responsibility for defects or repairs required, due to damage by windstorm, fire, earthquake, water, riot, or other accidental causes, or hazards. * * *

“If the parts warranted herein are damaged by accident, collision, negligence, misuse or alteration, or if the car is sold, stolen, or possession transferred by the purchaser named herein, this warranty shall thereupon become void.”

Defendants do not contend that they complied with the laws of Kansas requiring authorization to carry on an insurance business in that state. They simply say that they are not doing such a business, and that their contract is one of warranty or maintenance and not one of insurance.

Section 40-1102 of the General Statutes of Kansas reads, in /part, as follows:

“Any insurance company, other than a life insurance company, organized under the laws of this state or authorized to transact business in this state may make all or any one or more of the kinds of insurance and reinsurance comprised in any one of the following numbered classes, subject to and in accordance with its articles of incorporation and the provisions of this code.

“* * * (m) To insure against liability, loss or damage from any other risk, hazard, or contingency which may lawfully be the subject of insurance, and specific authority for the transaction of which has not been exclusively delegated to any other class or kind of company: * *

It is conceded that the defendants had not sold the parts to the plaintiff.

It is this subsection (m) which plaintiff says is applicable to defendants’ activity. It was clearly within the power of the Kansas Legislature to provide for obtaining jurisdiction over and service upon defendants carrying on a specified activity within that state. 9 Ohio Jurisprudence (2d), 690, Conflict of Laws, Section 29.

*148 We must begin with the assumption that the Kansas court acted regularly and considered whether defendants’ acts came within the provisions of this statute when it decided the question in the affirmative. And we must accord great weight to any reasonable interpretation and application which that court made of the statutes of its own state. That its conclusions are in accordance with the established view in that state is said to be indicated by the case of State, ex rel., v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 30 Kan., 585; 2 P., 840.

The general law appears to be in harmony with that of Kansas in defining the nature of insurance. Relying heavily upon Ohio cases, 1 Couch Cyclopedia of Insurance Law (2d Ed.), 42, Section 1.15, has pointed out the distinction between warranties and insurance in connection with property similar in nature to that involved in our present case. Incorporating the footnotes into the text, we quote from that treatise:

“Whether a warranty amounts to insurance depends upon its terms. A warranty or guaranty issued to a purchaser in connection with the sale of goods containing an agreement to indemnify against loss or damage resulting from perils outside of and unrelated to inherent weaknesses in the goods themselves constitutes a contract substantially amounting to insurance within the purview of a statute regulating the right of a foreign corporation to do business in the state. [Ohio: State, ex rel. Herbert, v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Griffin Systems, Inc. v. Ohio Department of Insurance
575 N.E.2d 803 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1991)
Bullucks v. General Motors Acceptance Corp.
457 N.E.2d 887 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1983)
County School Board v. GAF Corp.
478 F. Supp. 44 (W.D. Virginia, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
184 N.E.2d 489, 115 Ohio App. 145, 20 Ohio Op. 2d 242, 1961 Ohio App. LEXIS 586, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mein-v-united-states-car-testing-co-ohioctapp-1961.