State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. v. McKay

48 So. 2d 349, 209 Miss. 706, 1950 Miss. LEXIS 431
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 6, 1950
DocketNo. 37588
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 48 So. 2d 349 (State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. v. McKay) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. v. McKay, 48 So. 2d 349, 209 Miss. 706, 1950 Miss. LEXIS 431 (Mich. 1950).

Opinion

Hall, J.

On September 15, 1948, McKay Motors, a partnership firm composed of appellee and his son, R. C. McKay, sold to Don Breland a new Kaiser automobile. The transaction was evidenced by a conditional sale contract showing a cash payment of $850.00 and a balance payable in 24 consecutive monthly installments of $86.20 each beginning one month thereafter. The form used in the preparation of this contract was a printed contract used ordinarily by C. I. T. Corporation and it was contemplated that that company would purchase the contract from McKay Motors, but in a few days it declined to handle the paper and it was then purchased by and assigned to R. M. McKay individually. The first three monthly installments were paid in due course but default was made on the payment due in January 1949 after which nothing was paid on the contract except a portion of one installment. The paper was placed in the hands of an attorney for collection and according to the terms of the contract [715]*715there thereby became due thereon a reasonable sum as attorney’s fees for as much as 15% of the balance due if that amount is allowed by law.

On September 17, 1948, when it. M. McKay purchased the contract, he obtained from appellant a policy of insurance on the automobile in question showing Don Breland as owner and It. M. McKay as mortgagee or conditional vendor, with loss, if any, payable to said parties as their interests might appear. The policy insured the automobile at the time of loss or damage to the amount of the full cash value thereof less $100.00 deductible. It should be here noted that this policy was on a regular printed form of appellant providing for eight different types of coverage, designated therein as “A” to “H” inclusive, and each of these separately had various conditions, provisions and limitations applying to its own coverage but not applying to all the other items of coverage. The first page of the policy shows that the only coverages for which premiums were paid are those designated as'“D” and “G”. We are here concerned only with the latter which reads:

“Coverage G — Deductible Collision or Upset. To pay for direct and accidental loss of or damage to the automobile, hereinafter called loss, caused by collision of the automobile with another object or by upset of the automobile, but only for the amount of each such loss in excess of the deductible amount, if any, stated in the declarations as applicable hereto. ’ ’

In the latter part of March 1949 appellee obtained from Don Breland the possession of said automobile. Appellee testified in his own behalf that he had an agreement with Breland to place the car on the used car sales lot of McKay Motors and undertake to sell it with the understanding that out of the proceeds of sale he would retain the amount due him under the aforesaid conditional sale contract and pay the remainder of the proceeds of sale to Breland. Breland testified to substantially the same effect as a witness for appellant. While the car was on [716]*716this sales lot it was loaned on April 4,1949, to a customer of McKay Motors for temporary use while his automobile was undergoing repairs in its shop. There was no cash consideration for this loan of the car. On the following day while this customer was using the car it was upset, wrecked and demolished while attempting to negotiate a curve in a public highway.

Appellee made claim to appellant under the aforementioned policy for the damage resulting from the wreck and upon a denial of liability brought this suit to recover the same and obtained a judgment for $1700.00' from which this appeal is prosecuted.

The defendants named in the declaration were the appellant herein and also Don Breland. A copy of the conditional sales contract and also a copy of the policy were filed as exhibits to the declaration. Appellant demurred to the declaration on two grounds, viz., that the declaration states no cause of action against appellant because the policy shows that it was not applicable to the loss sustained, and because there was a misjoinder of parties. The second ground passes out of the picture because Don Breland, on his own motion, without objection from either of the other parties, was dismissed from the suit before a hearing* of the demurrer, leaving only appellant and appellee as parties to the suit. Furthermore, under our statute relating to misjoinder of parties defendant, this point should have been raised by plea or notice thereunder and not by demurrer. Section 1458, Code of 1942, and annotations thereon.

Under the first ground of demurrer appellant quotes a portion of one paragraph of the policy to the effect that the insurance does not apply to any person or organization operating an automobile repair shop, public garage, sales agency, service station or public parking place, with respect to any accident arising out of the operations thereof, and argues that under this provision there was no coverage in favor of appellee, but appellant overlooks the fact that the first portion of [717]*717tlie very paragraph from which the stated limitation is taken provides specifically that this limitation or condition applies only to the insurance for bodily injury liability, property damage liability, and medical payments, which are under coverages'“A”, “B”, and “C”, of the policy and has no application to coverage “G”, which is the coverage under which recovery is herein sought, being only for damage to the insured automobile as a result of upset or collision thereof. In our opinion the demurrer was properly overruled.

Appellant’s second point is that the trial court erred in overruling its motion to transfer the cause to the chancery court. There is no merit in this assignment for the reason that, even if we should be of the opinion that the cause should have been transferred, we are expressly prohibited by Section 147; Constitution of 1890, from reversing the judgment on that ground. Federal Compress & Warehouse Co. v. Coleman, 143 Miss. 620, 109 So. 20; Bullock v. Hans, 208 Miss. 41, 43 So. (2d) 670.

The next point is that the lower court erred in denying appellant’s motion to exclude all the evidence and grant it a peremptory instruction at the close of appellee’s evidence. We cannot consider this assignment because the record shows that after overruling of said motion the appellant proceeded to introduce evidence in support of its defense. By this action it waived the question now raised. Hairston v. Montgomery, 102 Miss. 364, 59 So. 793.

It is next argued that the lower court erred in refusing appellant’s request for a peremptory instruction at the close of all the evidence. It is contended that there was a repossession of the automobile by R. M. McKay when he placed it on the sales lot for resale as a used car, and that this changed the title and ownership of the car contrary to the provisions of the policy, but the point is not well taken for the reason that the third paragraph of the insuring endorsement appearing* as page 1 of the [718]*718policy specifically provides that the mortgagee or conditional vendor is fully protected under coverage “Gr” to the extent of his interest ‘ ‘ and this insurance as to such additional interest shall not be invalidated by . . . any change in the title or ownership ’ ’ of the automobile.

It is further contended in this connection that the use of the automobile under the terms of the policy was limited to pleasure and business purposes and that there is no liability in this case because it was being used for commercial purposes.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
48 So. 2d 349, 209 Miss. 706, 1950 Miss. LEXIS 431, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-farm-mut-auto-ins-v-mckay-miss-1950.