Reed v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Co.

483 S.W.2d 721, 1972 Tenn. LEXIS 371
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 19, 1972
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 483 S.W.2d 721 (Reed v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reed v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Co., 483 S.W.2d 721, 1972 Tenn. LEXIS 371 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

NEARN, Judge.

The question is whether or not the policy of insurance by its terms afforded coverage for the insured under the stipulated facts involved.

The judgment below was in favor of the insured, W. L. Reed and wife, Mary Sue Reed, in the amount of Three Thousand Five Hundred ($3,500.00) Dollars, and the defendant company, Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, has appealed. The policy of insurance and all material facts were stipulated below, and the matter was heard by the Judge without the intervention of a jury. The Bill of Exceptions, with one exception, consists entirely of the oral stipulations of counsel and comments by counsel and the Court.

The stipulations are that the defendant issued its policy of insurance to the plaintiffs on March 29, 1969, insuring against loss by fire and other hazards, in the amount of Three Thousand, Five Hundred ($3,500.00) Dollars, one Barcraft house trailer then located in Braden, Tennessee. Subsequent to the issuance of the policy, three significant events occurred. First, in September, 1969, W. L. Reed, in whose name the house trailer was titled, had business negotiations with his grandson, Richard W. Reed, concerning the house trailer. The culmination of the negotiations is represented by an instrument executed by Richard W. Reed, which is as follows:

“I promise to pay W. L. Reed Three Thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty-Five dollars for one mobile home, twelve by sixty feet, at the rate of Fifty dollars per month with no interest. Notes are to be paid on or before the 20th of each month. Said mobile home belongs to said W. L. Reed until the full amount is paid.”

The second significant event occurred about the time the foregoing instrument was executed when the possession of the house trailer was given over to Richard W. Reed and it was moved from its location in Braden, Tennessee, to a location in Shelby County, Tennessee.

The third significant event occurred on February 2, 1970, when the house trailer [723]*723was completely destroyed by fire while located in Shelby County, Tennessee.

It was further stipulated that the defendant insurance carrier was not notified of the removal of the property from Braden, Tennessee, nor of the change in possession. Also, the title certificate to the house trailer is still recorded in the name of W. L. Reed and has never been transferred.

The plaintiffs’ Declaration alleged ownership at the time of the loss in W. L. Reed; that the house trailer at the time of loss was in Shelby County, Tennessee; and alleged coverage under the terms of the policy.

The defendant’s Answer denied the ownership of the named insured and denied coverage, relying on the following condition of the policy which is contained on the first or face page thereof:

“IN CONSIDERATION OF THE PROVISIONS AND STIPULATIONS HEREIN OR ADDED HERETO AND OF the premium above specified, this Company, for the term of years specified above from inception date shown above At Noon (Standard Time) to expiration date shown above At Noon (Standard Time) at location of property involved, to an amount not exceeding the amount (s) above specified, does insure the insured name above and legal representatives, to the extent of the actual cash value of the property at the time of loss, but not exceeding the amount which it would cost to repair or replace the property with material of like kind and quality within a reasonable time after such loss, without allowance for any increased cost of repair or reconstruction by reason of any ordinance or law regulating construction or repair, and without compensation for loss resulting from interruption of business or manufacture, nor in any event for more than the interest of the insured, against all DIRECT LOSS BY FIRE, LIGHTNING AND BY REMOVAL FROM PREMISES ENDANGERED BY THE PERILS INSURED AGAINST IN THIS POLICY, EXCEPT AS HEREINAFTER PROVIDED, to the property described herein while located or contained as described in this policy, or pro rata for five days at each proper place to which any of the property shall necessarily be removed for preservation from the perils insured against in this policy, but not elsewhere.”

After the stipulations as aforesaid and after arguments of counsel were made, the Trial Judge asked Mr. Richard W. Reed, who was not a party to the suit and happened to be sitting in the courtroom, whether or not the house trailer was located in a Fire District in Shelby County. Richard W. Reed answered that it was located in a Shelby County Fire District with a rural-type fire department. The Court then asked Richard W. Reed if there was a fire department at Braden. The answer by Richard W. Reed was that in Braden there was no fire department at all.

The Court then granted judgment for the plaintiffs in the amount of Three Thousand, Five Hundred ($3,500.00) Dollars and held that the title to and the ownership of the house trailer was in W. L. Reed; that the location of the house trailer was not an important factor; and that the perils insured against were not increased, but were probably lessened by the removal from the insured location.

Four Assignments of Error have been filed by the counsel for appellant, but they can be summarized as follows:

I.

The Court erred in ruling that the title to the property insured was in the plaintiff, W. L. Reed.

II.

The Court erred in reaching its decision that the change of location did not increase the risk insured against by relying upon [724]*724matters which had not been presented in evidence, to wit: the unsworn statement of Richard W. Reed.

III.

The Court erred in holding that the plain conditions or terms of the policy were immaterial and unenforceable.

Before ruling on the Assignments of Error, the policy of insurance should be first scrutinized. The policy is styled “Standard Fire Insurance Policy for Tennessee”. It is the regular printed form and is the same form used generally to cover building and dwellings and is not a special policy specifically designed for the coverage of mobile homes or house trailers. In the space on the face of the policy designated as “DESCRIPTION AND LOCATION OF PROPERTY COVERED Show construction, type of roof and occupancy of building(s) covered or containing the property covered. If occupied as a dwelling state number of families”, the following has been inserted by means of a typewriter:

“Metal 60x12 — Metal Roof — 1 Story — 1 Family- — -Housetrailer—1967 Model Bar-craft — Ser. No. A6021679 — Located in Braden, Tennessee.”

W. L. Reed is the named insured in the policy. We have carefully read this policy and we are unable to find anywhere therein a representation by the insured of what his interest actually is in the property insured. Nowhere in the policy are we able to find any requirement that the insured’s interest in the property be the fee or sole ownership thereof. In fact, the policy is completely silent as to the interest of the named insured in the property covered by the policy. (Of course, the law is that the insured must have at least an insurable interest or the policy is void. This proposition is so well settled and ingrained in the public policy of this state that it requires no citation for its support.) Under the provision styled “Conditions suspending or restricting insurance”, we find only the following exclusions:

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Related

Dover v. Dover
821 S.W.2d 593 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1991)
Henley v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Co.
754 S.W.2d 614 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1988)
Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Shelby Mutual Insurance Co.
542 S.W.2d 822 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
483 S.W.2d 721, 1972 Tenn. LEXIS 371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reed-v-tennessee-farmers-mutual-insurance-co-tennctapp-1972.