Simons v. Vaughn

176 S.W. 995, 165 Ky. 167, 1915 Ky. LEXIS 501
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedJune 2, 1915
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 176 S.W. 995 (Simons v. Vaughn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simons v. Vaughn, 176 S.W. 995, 165 Ky. 167, 1915 Ky. LEXIS 501 (Ky. Ct. App. 1915).

Opinion

[168]*168Opinion on the Court by

Judge Hurt

Reversing.

The appellants, Max Freedberg and S. D. Simons, trustees for the creditors of Freedberg, sued the appellees, Leaman Vaughn and J. B. Blackwell, as partners, under the firm name of Vaughn & Blackwell, and sought to make them liable, as agents of the Franklin Fire Insurance Co., of Delaware, on account of a loss insured against by a policy, issued by the insurance company, it being insolvent and refusing to pay the loss.

The issues being properly made by the pleadings, a trial was had, which resulted in a verdict of the jury, and a judgment of the court in favor of the appellees, and the petition of appellants was dismissed. The appellants filed grounds for a new trial, which were overruled, and they now appeal to this court.

The grounds relied upon for a reversal are that the court erred in admitting incompetent evidence offered by the appellees, and .rejecting competent evidence offered by the appellants; in instructing the jury, and in refusing to instruct as offered by appellants; and because the court erred in overruling appellant’s motion, at the conclusion of all of the evidence, to instruct the jury to return a direct verdict in favor of appellants. The evidence was substantially as follows:

The appellant, Freedberg, testified that the appellees were engaged in the business of insurance agents for several insurance companies, in which he carried policies of insurance, and that one of the policies in the sum of $2,000.00, having been cancelled, that the appellee, Blackwell, notified him of it, and he expressed the desire to have insurance in the place of it, when Blackwell said to him, ££I will see that you get some more insurance. ’ ’ He had informed the appellees theretofore, that when a policy carried by any company represented by them lapsed, to reinsure him, and that they had attended to so doing, and would inform him, and he would pay the premiums when the policies were delivered to him, which he kept in a safe, and really did not know in what companies the insurance was carried, as he made no examination of the policies; that he did not know that the Franklin Fire Insurance Co. was not authorized to do business in the State, or anything about its solvency, neither did he know where the appellees procured tlie policies or how; that he never questioned [169]*169them as to what companies they represented, and believed they were agents for the Franklin Fire Insurance Co., as they delivered the policy to' him and collected the premium; that he had no information that appellees were not agents of the Franklin'Fire Insurance Co.; that the policy was handed to him by Mr. Blackwell, one of the appellees, and that he did not give it any attention, and did not know at the time what company it was in; that he left it to the appellees to put the policy in whatever company they desired, and they did- not tell him what company had issued the policy, and that he paid the premium to appellees, and did not learn, until after his loss by the fire, that the Franklin Fire Insurance Co. was insolvent, or was not authorized to do business in the State; about a week after his loss the appellees told him that the company did not have a license to do business in Kentucky; they, also, told him that they had telegraphed to the companies in which the policies were held, in regard to the fire, and that they would send an adjuster; that appellees also told him, after his loss by the fire, that they had written policies for others' in the Franklin Fire Insurance Co., but had returned the premiums to them.

H. D. Simons testified that after he qualified as trustee for Freedberg, that Vaughn & Blackwell stated to him that the policies held by Freedberg were all in g-ood and solvent companies’ and had suggested to him to leave the policies in their custody, as the adjusters would want to see them, and he took a receipt for the policies, among which was the one in the Franklin Fire Insurance Co.; that the policies were already in the custody of the appellees, having been lodged with them by Freedberg after the loss. After that time, Blackwell wrote to Simons a letter, in which, among other things, ■,. he said: “I, as agent for the insurance companies, will, quietly receive the checks, etc.” In another letter writ-' ten Simons by Blackwell, he said: “We have sub-:.; mitted proof-of the loss to Franklin Fire Insurance Co..-, . but doubt very much the reliability of this company,?’/; and in another letter from Blackwell-to Simons, he said-:--s “We have written insurance commissioner of Delaware, ■ and he says the license has been revoked. We have reported the loss to Anthony, who issued the policy, and • he directed that proof be made up and sent to him, and he would serve notice on the. company, and that -he, [170]*170Bláclhvell, had'had Mr. Cromwell, an adjuster,' to make tip'the proof of'the loss and mail it-to Anthony.” In another'letter from Blackwell to Simons, he mentions that he returns to him the Franklin Fire Insurance Company policy, on which ‘‘ we have tried to • realize. ’ ’

Leftwich, a witness for appellant, testified that Blackwell said to him, that he had secured the policy for Freedberg, and at the1 time he secured the policy he did not know anything about the company; that he did not know whether it had been authorized to do business in Kentucky or not; that he had received the premiums and got a commission for writing the insurance policy; that he should have inquired of the insurance department.

Other evidence was introduced by appellants showing the insolvency of the Franklin Fire Insurance Co., and the fact that it was not authorized to do business in Kentucky at the time the policy was issued.

The appellee, J. B. Blackwell, testifying for appellees,. stated that he and the appellee, Vaughn, was a partnership engaged in doing an insurance business; that they had a recording agency in which were three companies, the Connecticut of Hartford, the Germania of;New York, and the National Union of Pittsburg; that they were authorized by these companies .to write and sign and deliver policies of insurance; that Freedberg carried a policy of $2,000.00 in the Fireman’s Insurance Co., which w.as not represented by the appellees, but by One Lambe; that during the time Freedberg had been in business in the town o‘f Clay the appellees had been ablé to secure the "greater part of his insurance in the three"companies that they represented; .one of the policies carried by Freedberg upon his stock was for $2,000.00, and was in the Connecticut of Hartford, another was for $3,000.00, and in the Germania- of New York, and that about the 7th of September they wrote. a policy for Freedberg upon his stock of merchandise for $2,000.00 in the National Union of Pittsburg, but within a very few days this policy was cancelled by the company, which directed the appellees to take up the policy and return it at once, and that he, Blackwell, in- ■ formed Freedberg: of this fact, -and that he did not think they were in shape to take care of that additional insur- ■ anee in their agency. He told Freedberg that we have á letter ón óur desk,-'addressed-'to the bank,- from one' [171]*171Mr. Anthony, of Brooklyn, New York, who. claims to be an insurance broker, and able-to take care of. any surplus insurance that we might -have or' that anyone might have. With this letter were inclosed, some blank forms for making applications for insurance, and I. told Mr. Freedberg “that it might be that we could secure for him from Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
176 S.W. 995, 165 Ky. 167, 1915 Ky. LEXIS 501, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simons-v-vaughn-kyctapp-1915.