Murray v. Great Western Insurance

25 N.Y.S. 414, 72 Hun 282, 79 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 282, 55 N.Y. St. Rep. 748
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 13, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 25 N.Y.S. 414 (Murray v. Great Western Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murray v. Great Western Insurance, 25 N.Y.S. 414, 72 Hun 282, 79 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 282, 55 N.Y. St. Rep. 748 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1893).

Opinion

FOLLETT, J.

This action was brought to recover on a marine policy of insurance, by which the defendant insured the Cleopatra against perils of the sea for one year from September 16, 1878,. for $9,000, under a policy in which the vessel was valued at $75,-000. The policy was taken out by and in the name of the owners-of the ship; but, by an indorsement, the loss, if any, was made payable to the plaintiff, as trustee for certain mortgage bondholders.. The vessel was also insured by other underwriters for $38,000. The Cleopatra was a wooden steamship, of about 1,045 tons burden,, built in 1865. In August, 1878, she was found to be considerably “hogged,” both ends being lower than the center; and in that month she was repaired, strengthened, and supplied with new boilers. At this time, and at the time of the stranding, David1 Colden Murray, Bindley Murray Ferris, Jr., and Robert M. Ferris,, constituting the firm of Murray, Ferris & Co., were the owners of 85-100, and Sophus Valentine, the master, was the owner of 15-100. To secure the payment of $20,000, the cost of the repairs, Murray, Ferris & Co., September 18, 1878, mortgaged their interest in the ship to Joseph K. Murray, as trustee, to secure the payment of 40 bonds of $500 each. The mortgagors stipulated in the mortgage-to keep the vessel insured for $25,000 for the benefit of the trustee. There was a prior mortgage of $6,000 on the ship, held by Joseph K. Murray, individually, which he stipulated should become the-second lien. After the ship had been so repaired and insured, she made one round voyage between New York and Santiago deCuba via Nassau and Cienfuegos without accident, and October-17, 1878, she left New York on a second round voyage between the same ports. October 23, 1878, the vessel was stranded on a reef in Douglas channel, near Nassau, New Providence,—one of the Bahama islands. December 18, 1878, the owners gave the defendant written notice of the stranding, and that they abandoned the vessel to the insurers; and March 18, 1879, the plaintiff, as trustee, gave-a like notice, in which the owners also joined. It is conceded that [416]*416the vessel was considerably injured by the accident, and the plaintiff asserts that he and the owners were justified in abandoning her, and that he is entitled to recover for a constructive total loss. Besides the question of damages, the only issue of fact submitted to the jury (neither party requesting the submission of any other) was whether the vessel was so injured that it became a -constructive total loss. This issue has been three times tried,— First, at special term, before Mr. Justice Donohue, where a judgment was rendered for the plaintiff; second, before a jury which ■disagreed; and, lastly, before the jury which rendered the verdict •on which this judgment now under review was entered.

The policy provides:

“And it is further agreed that, in case a total loss shall he claimed for or •on account of any damage or charge to the said vessel, the only basis of as•certaining her value shall be her valuation in the policy.”

The valuation clause in the policy is as follows:

“Hull and apparel valued at....................................... $37,500
Boilers and machinery valued at...................•............... 37,500
Total...................................................... $75,000
“The valuation of hull, tackle, and apparel being made separate from that ■of the boilers and machinery, it is agreed that no abandonment of one interest, as valued, shall be made unless there shall be a total loss of the other.”

It was further provided in the policy:

“And, lastly, it is agreed that, in case of any claim for loss or damage, a •deduction of one-third from the cost of repairing or replacing the same shall be made, after deducting the value of the old materials, except in the case of • anchors, and of sheathing of copper and other metal; a deduction of one-fortieth from the expense of repairing or replacing the metal sheathing, or any part thereof (after first deducting the value of the old metal and nails) shall be made for every month since the vessel was last sheathed until the expiration of forty months, after which time the cost of remetalling or repairing the same shall be wholly borne by the assured. If a technical total loss shall be claimed, similar deductions shall be made from the estimated repairs, and, unless the net cost thereof would exceed a moiety of the value of the ves- ■ sel after making such deduction, the loss shall be deemed partial, only.”

. The term “technical total loss” is used in the policy, which means the same as “constructive total loss.” 2 Phil. Ins. 237; 2 Pars. Mar. Law, 336; 2 Pars. Mar. Ins. 110. Mr. Arnould, in his learned work on Marine Insurance, (volume 2, [6th Ed.] p. 951,) defines the term “constructive total loss” as follows:

“An absolute total loss takes place when the subject insured wholly perishes, • or there is a privation of it, and its recovery is hopeless. A constructive total loss takes place when the subject insured is not'wholly destroyed, but its destruction is rendered highly probable, or the privation of it, though not quite irretrievable, is such that its recovery is either exceedingly doubtful, or too expensive to be worth the attempt. An absolute total loss entitles the assured to claim from the underwriter the whole amount of his subscription. A constructive total loss entitles him to make such claim on condition of giving notice of abandonment of all right and title to any part of the property that may still exist, or may still be recovered.”

This definition by the courts and text-books. 3 Kent, Comm. 318; 2 Phil. Ins. 237; 2 Pars. Mar. Ins. 107, and cases cited. The foregoing is the general rule, but in cases of injuries to vessels, [417]*417and in the absence of stipulations in the policies on the subject, the courts of different jurisdictions do not agree as to the proportion which the cost of repairing must bear to the value of the ship, so as to justify an abandonment, and a claim for a constructive total loss. Dickey v. Insurance Co., 4 Cow. 222, affirmed 3 Wend. 658; Saurez v. Insurance .Co., 2 Sandf. 482, 2 Pars. Mar. Ins. 125 et seq.; 2 Arn. Mar. Ins. (6th Ed.) 952; Irving v. Manning, 1 H. L. Cas. 287. And the courts do not agree, in the absence of stipulations on the subject, whether the valuation in the policy, if the vessel be therein valued, or the value of the ship just before the injury, or its value after reparation, should be taken as the basis in estimating the proportion of the cost of repairs to value. Insurance Co. v. Ogden, 20 Wend. 287; Wallerstein v. Insurance Co., 44 N. Y. 204, 217; Insurance Co. v. Southgate, 5 Pet. 604; Deblois v. Insurance Co., 16 Pick. 303; Peele v. Insurance Co., 3 Mason, 27; Bradlie v. Insurance Co., 12 Pet. 378; 3 Kent, Comm., 331; 2 Pars. Mar. Ins. 134; 2 Arn. Mar. Ins. (6th Ed.) 995, 1046, 1035, 1148. In the case at bar, it is provided in the policy that a constructive total loss shall not be claimed unless the net cost of repairs, after making the deductions specified in the clause, exceed one-half of the value of the vessel. In this state the rule is that, in determining whether a ship is so far injured as to become a constructive total loss, its value as stated in the policy controls. Insurance Co. v. Ogden, supra; Wallerstein v. Insurance Co., supra; 3 Kent, Comm. 331. This is also the rule in Massachusetts, (Deblois v.

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Bluebook (online)
25 N.Y.S. 414, 72 Hun 282, 79 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 282, 55 N.Y. St. Rep. 748, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murray-v-great-western-insurance-nysupct-1893.