Yorkshire Insurance v. Cravey

117 S.E.2d 167, 102 Ga. App. 591, 1960 Ga. App. LEXIS 688
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 3, 1960
Docket38505
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 117 S.E.2d 167 (Yorkshire Insurance v. Cravey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yorkshire Insurance v. Cravey, 117 S.E.2d 167, 102 Ga. App. 591, 1960 Ga. App. LEXIS 688 (Ga. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinion

Frankum, Judge.

A bond executed in compliance with a regulation authorized by statute will be interpreted in the light of the regulation. Jones v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 100 Ga. App. 727 (112 S. E. 2d 323); Talmadge v. General Casualty Co., 88 Ga. App. 234 (76 S. E. 2d 562). A plaintiff must show a right to maintain an action against the defendant. Hill v. Shaw, 189 Ga. 294 (5 S. E. 2d 778); National Ben Franklin Fire Ins. Co. v. McGann, 170 Ga. 573 (153 S. E. 362).

The bond in question was made in compliance with a regulation of the Insurance Commissioner issued under the authority of Code § 56-110, which regulation is, in part, as follows: “1009. 1. Immediately upon issuance of charter by the Secretary of State a certified copy of the petition and charter shall be filed with the Insurance Commissioner, and before any capital stock is offered for sale the incorporators shall select one of their members to serve as Treasurer while the organization is being completed. Written minutes shall be kept of all meetings during the organization period, which shall be available for inspection by the Insurance Department at all times. 2. [not applicable] ... 3. The Treasurer shall be custodian of all funds of the company realized from the sale of stock, or otherwise, and shall give bond in the amount of Dollars ($ ) payable to the Insurance Commissioner of Georgia conditioned upon his faithful accounting for all funds coming into his hands, said bond to be filed with the Department of Insurance. 4. The Treasurer shall deposit promptly, not less than once each week, all funds of the company coming into his [594]*594possession, in a Georgia Bank or Banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under an escrow agreement that said funds are being held pending the organization of the insurance company and that the funds are to be turned over to the insurance company when the organization is completed; and, in the event that the organization is not completed within the time permitted by law, then to be returned to the subscribers of stock in said company. . .”

The Insurance Commissioner of Georgia is the obligee in said bond. Counsel for the insurance company contend that the action cannot be brought in the name of the Commissioner for the use of anyone. However, the authorities cited by counsel involve penalty bonds, while the bond in the instant case is for "■the faithful accounting for all funds coming into his [treasurer’s] hands.’’ Specifically, the funds referred to are the moneys taken for subscription of stock during the organization of the Republic Life Insurance Co., and in the event the organization is not completed, the money is to be returned to the subscribers. A suit may be brought by the Insurance Commissioner on the bond for the use of the parties who were to receive the refunds. Fidelity & Deposit Co. v. Nisbet, 119 Ga. 316 (46 S. E. 444).

In the Nisbet case, the order of court appointing the receiver required him to make and file in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Bibb County a “good and sufficient bond, in the sum of $25,000, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties as receiver under the order and such other orders as might be passed in the case.” The order of appointment further provided that the receiver should deposit all moneys coming into his hands in certain designated banks and to be paid out in a certain maimer on checks signed and countersigned in specified manners. The receiver executed the bond, the Fidelity Company becoming the surety thereon. Thereafter, the clerk, as obligee on the bond, brought suit on the bond. The parallel is obvious that in the case sub judice the principal gave bond conditioned on his true and faithful accounting for all funds coming into his hands as said treasurer and reciting that the bond was expressly given in compliance with official regulation No. 1009.

[595]*595The instant case is distinguishable from Glens Falls Indem. Co. v. Southeastern Construction Co., 207 Ga. 488 (62 S. E. 2d 149), in that the completion bond in the Glens Falls case between a prime contractor and a subcontractor did not contemplate a liability to certain usees who supplied materials to the subcontractor. In the instant case regulation No. 1009, under an enabling statute, Code § 56-110, prescribed for a refunding of money to the subscribers of stock upon the happening of an event, and a bond to the Insurance Commissioner to insure the faithful accounting by the treasurer. The intent can only mean that a bond be given to insure a proper accounting to the subscribers of the stock. Such intent will be read into the bond contract by operation of law when the bond purports to satisfy a regulation requirement authorized by statute. Jones v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co., 100 Ga. App. 727, supra. The bond specifically refers to the regulation and was made in conformity with it. These facts are important to reveal the intent of the contract, and they distinguish the instant case from American Surety Co. v. Small Quarries Co., 157 Ga. 33 (120 S. E. 617). Thus, the action can be maintained in the name of the Insurance Commissioner for the use of the plaintiff who had a beneficial interest, because the intent of the regulation is to provide for the faithful accounting by a company’s officer to the subscribers of stock, which, in turn, is a part of the contract, not only by express reference but by operation of law.

The petition alleges that the company “was not completed within the time provided by law,” and that the Insurance Commissioner ordered the funds returned to the subscribers. The petition further alleges that the defendants failed to return the $750 after demand. Such facts are sufficient to show a breach of the conditions of the bond. The trial court did not err in overruling the general demurrer.

The defendant specially demurred to the petition on the grounds that the incorporators of the insurance company are not’alleged. It is contended that such allegation might disclose the plaintiff as an incorporator, which would make available to the defendant a possible defense, viz., that the plaintiff would not be entitled to the refund of his subscription by reason of the [596]*596plaintiff’s position. These demurrers are without merit. A petition merely serves, among other purposes, to set forth sufficient facts to show the plaintiff has a right for which the law supplies a remedy. It is not usually incumbent upon a plaintiff to negate all possible defenses a defendant might or may have.. In the instant case the names of the incorporators have no relation to the treasurer’s faithful accounting. The action is predicated on the treasurer’s failure to return a subscription in accordance with the direction of the regulation. The allegations of the petition which refer to the incorporators are only averments of inducement. See American Thread Co. v. Rochester, 82 Ga. App. 873 (62 S. E. 2d 602).

Paragraphs 14 and 15 of the plaintiff’s petition, as amended, are as follows: “14. That the organization of The Republic Life Insurance Company was not completed within the time permitted by law (as contemplated by Paragraph 4 of said Official Regulation) and the funds in the hands of the said Embry P. Eve, Jr., were ordered returned to the subscribers of stock in said company by the plaintiff, Insurance Commissioner of the State of Georgia as provided in said Paragraph 4 of said Official Regulation. 15.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Treadway v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co.
122 S.E.2d 125 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1961)
Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester & Camilla Railway Co. v. Rutherford
121 S.E.2d 159 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1961)
Wheeler v. Satilla Rural Electric Membership Corp.
119 S.E.2d 375 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
117 S.E.2d 167, 102 Ga. App. 591, 1960 Ga. App. LEXIS 688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yorkshire-insurance-v-cravey-gactapp-1960.