National Fire Ins v. Wagner

23 Ohio Law. Abs. 369, 1936 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1113
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 14, 1936
DocketNo 1370
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 23 Ohio Law. Abs. 369 (National Fire Ins v. Wagner) 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
National Fire Ins v. Wagner, 23 Ohio Law. Abs. 369, 1936 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1113 (Ohio Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

[370]*370STATEMENT OF FACTS

By BODEY, J

This is an error proceeding from the Common Pleas Court. The defendant in error, Francis A. Wagner, trustee, was plaintiff below and the other parties to this error proceeding were defendants below. We will refer to the parties as they appeared in the lower court.

In his petition the plaintiff alleged in substance that on January 26, 1931 the defendant insured him against loss or damage by fire or lightning in the fixed amount of $20,000.00 for one year upon four brick buildings located • at 227 to 239 East First Street, Dayton, Ohio; that in its policy of insurance issued to plaintiff the defendant, with full knowledge of the physical facts which it had obtained .by a detailed survey made of said premises, but contrary to law, inaccurately described- said group of four buildings as ‘a five story approved roof brick building;’ that as a result of the detailed survey of its agent the defendant had placed an insurable value upon one of said buildings, which was totally destroyed by fire, of $64,875.00; that, at the time of said loss, plaintiff held said policy in good faith as one of indemnity against loss by fire upon each of said four brick buildings; that said fire loss was settled by plaintiff and defendant, Insurance Company, upon the basis of a partial loss with a view toward utilizing the standing portion of said buildings in its reconstruction; that after said loss had been adjusted as partial, the plaintiff learned that the portion of said building remaining was unsafe and unsound and was a hindrance to any program of reconstruction; that, therefore, said loss was a total loss and plaintiff was entitled to an additional payment from said defendant on account thereof in the sum of $2880.16, for which amount he prayed judg-ement.

To this petition the defendant, Insurance Company, filed an answer in which it made certain admissions in its first defense, but in which it denied by way of general denial the allegation of misdescription and all allegations concerning a failure to adjust loss in conformity with the terms of the policy and the law. In its second defense this defendant pleads an accord and satisfaction, specifically setting forth the receipt of the sum of $8876.58 by the plaintiff in adjustment of said loss. In its third defense the defendant pleads its release and discharge from further liability under this policy by reason of the written release executed to it by the plaintiff.

To this answer the plaintiff replied and thereby denied all of the allegations of the answer which were inconsistent with his petition, denied that the fire loss was partial and denied that there had been any accord and satisfaction or any release of his claim against said Insurance Company on account of total loss.

On the issues thus made trial was had to a jury which returned a verdict for plaintiff for the full amount claimed. A motion for new trial was filed and overruled. Judgment was rendered on the verdict. This is the final order which the plaintiff in error now seeks to reverse.

OPINION

By BODEY, J.

The evidence shows that the plaintiff was trustee of an express trust and that as such he was the owner of the building or structure in question; that said building or structure was located at the northwest corner of East First Street and Patterson Blvd. in the City of Dayton; that said building or structure, according to plaintiff's plat, consisted of four sections each of which had separate walls and foundations, as follows: Section A extended west on First Street and North on Patterson Blvd.; Section B was about twenty-five feet north of Section A and was connected with Section A at the fourth story by a bridge approximately twenty-five feet in length; Section C was connected with Section B and lay immediately west thereof and was connected with Section D which would be in line with the west wall of Section A extended northwardly; Sections A and C were not connected in any way but were separated by an area of perhaps twenty-five feet in width; Section D fronted on East First Street, extended North and was connected with Section A on its west and with Section C on its west; there were six openings between Sections D and A; this plant had formerly been operated as one concern by plaintiff’s predecessor in title and it was possible to go from one section into another by following the various openings between A and B, B and C, C and D, and D and A; a driveway which was one story in height separated Sections A and D; Sections A and D were five stories high [371]*371while Sections B and C were only four stories in height; four stories of Section A at the west side thereof were built over said driveway; the fire was confined generally to Section A, slight damage being done to Sections B and D; the four walls of Section A remained standing after the fire; under the terms of the policy as issued, settlement was made as a partial loss to the whole; five other policies, similarly written, were held by plaintiff; all policies totalled $100,000.00; this figure represented 90% of the sound value of said plant which was fixed at $112,843.00.

The questions involved have been comprehensively briefed by counsel on each side.

In passing upon the rights of the parties we must' construe the valued policy law of Ohio which is found in §§9583 et seq GO. §9583 GC reads as follows:

“A person, company or association insuring any building or structure against loss or damage by fire or lightning, by renewal of a policy, shall cause such building or structure to be examined by his or its agent, and a full description thereof to be made, and its insurable value fixed, by him. In the absence of any change increasing the risk without the consent of the insurers, and also of intentional fraud on the part of the insured, in case of total loss, the whole amount mentioned in the policy or renewal upon which the insurer received a premium, shall be paid.”

It was held in the case of Insurance Company v Leslie, 47 Oh St 409, that this Statute is founded upon considerations of public policy and. that the Statute ‘cannot be regarded as conferring upon the assured a mere personal privilege which may be waived by agreement.’ In referring to the Statute the court says:

“Nor do we think the operation of the Statute can be defeated, by the neglect of the agent to make the examination, or fi.x the insurable value of the property, as it requires. The duty of the company is to obey the law, and its disregard of that duty can give it no greater rights than the observance of it would.”

The court further says:

“It moulds the obligation of the contract into conformity to its provisions, and establishes the rule and measure of the insurer’s liability.”

It will thus be seen that the Statute enjoins a positive duty upon the agent of the insurer. The insured may not waive any of the provisions required to be fulfilled by the agent. By the provisions of §9586 GC, the agent soliciting the insurance is deemed to be the agent of the insurer. With these sections of the Statute before us and the interpretation which has been placed on §9583 GC by the Supreme Court, we inquire whether or not the agent of the Insurance Company in the case at bar discharged his obligations under the Valued Policy Law when he took the application and whether or not the company discharged its obligation thereunder when it issued the policy as written.

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Related

Baker v. All States Life Insurance
96 N.E.2d 787 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1950)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 Ohio Law. Abs. 369, 1936 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-fire-ins-v-wagner-ohioctapp-1936.