74 Fla. 130 | Fla. | 1917
Lead Opinion
We shall treat the first five assignments of error together, as they have been so discussed by the plaintiff in error, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, and the defendant in error, hereinafter referred toas the plaintiff, who concur in stating .that all of such assignments “present questions arising under the Constitution of the United States.” The first point which they present for our determination is whether the contracts declared upon, evidenced by the two policies of insurance, are Florida contracts, as contended by the
Section 2765 of the General Statutes of 1906, Compiled Laws of 1914, referred to in such asignments, reads as follows:
“Any person or firm in this State, who receives or receipts for any money on account of or for any contract of insurance made by him or them, or for such insurance company, association, firm or individual aforesaid, or who receives or receipts for money from other persons to be transmitted to any such company, association, firm or individual, aforesaid, for a policy of insurance, or any renewal thereof, although such policy of insurance is not signed by him or them, as ágent or representative of such company, association, firm or individual, or who in any wise directly or indirectly makes or causes to be made, any contract of insurance for or on account of such insurance company, association, firm or individual, shall be deemed to all intents and purposes an agent or representative of such company, association, firm or individual.”
This section originally formed Section 7 of Chapter 1863 of the Laws of Florida (Acts of 1872, p. 12) was brought forward as Section 2224 of the Revised Statutes of 1892, and was amended by Chapter 4380 of the Laws of Florida (Acts of 1895, p. 147). We also think that it is advisable to copy Section 2777 of the GeneraStatutes of 1906, Compiled Laws of 1914, which originally formed Section 3 of Chapter 4677 of the Laws of Florida, (Acts of 1899, p. 34), and is as follows:
“Any person who solicits insurance and procures applications therefor shall be held to be agent of the party issuing a policy upon such application, anything in the application on policy to the contrary notwithstanding.”
Neither the Legislature nor the courts of Florida could extend the operation of;its statutes beyond its borders, and this is likewise true of Pennsylvania. The Legislature of Florida would seem to have made no such attempt. The question which we are called upon to ansAver is did the Circuit Court attempt to extend the operation of these two statutes into the State of Pennsylvania? The answer to be given to this question depends upon whether the contracts of insurance must be held to be Florida or Pennsylvania contracts. Conceding the truthfulness of the averment in the first plea of the defendant that such defendant corporation, organized and existing under the laws of Pennsylvania, “had not secured a permit to do business in the State of Florida,” in accordance with the statutory requirements, if, as a matter of fact, such defendant did voluntarily
“First. That it denies that at the time said policies went in force and were executed and delivered, that the defendant was not engaged in the transaction of business in the State of Florida, but states the fact to be that at that time, and as far back as 1908, defendant was transacting business within the State of Florida, and was in fact transacting business with plaintiff.
“That on April 14, 1908, the defendant, through Lowry & Prince, of Tampa, Florida, assumed a risk by a policy of fire insurance on part of the property of the plaintiff, described in the policies sued on herein, and that the said policy of April 14, 1908, so written by said defendant was from time to time renewed and kept in force, and
“And repliant further shows that the said Lowry & Prince caused the defendant to write the said policy of 1908, and said Lowry & Prince caused and procured the defendant to renew said policy from time to time, and to finally write and issue policies here sued on, covering repliant’s property, and that repliant from 1908 to the date of the policies here sued on, paid unto the said Lowry & Prince, premiums charged by the said defendant for said policies, and said premiums were forwarded by the said Lowry & Prince, less their commission, which commission was allowed by the said defendant, to the said defendant, and that at the time the policies sued on herein were delivered to repliant, repliant paid the premium charged by the said defendant therefor, to Lowry & Prince, and the said Lowry & Prince forwarded the said premium to the said defendant.
“Therefore, repliant also denies that said defendant at the time of the execution and delivery of the policies sued on, had no agent or representative in the State of Florida, but states the fact to be that Lowry & Prince, who procured and caused said policies to be written who collected the premiums and forwarded the same to the defendant, were the agents of the defendant.”
We deem it proper to call attention to the fact that the defendant begins its rejoinder with the statement, upon which it strongly relies, “That under the public laws of the State of Pennsylvania, which are entitled to full faith and credit in the State of Florida, the defend
The rejoinder was filed to all of the amended replications and the demurrer interposed by the plaintiff was addressed to the entire rejoinder, which demurrer was sustained as an entirety. See Griffing Bros. Co. v. Winfield, 53 Fla. 589, 43 South. Rep. 687, and authorities there cited. For a proper understanding of these pleadings reference should be had to them in the prefatory statement. We have given extracts from them here merely as a matter of convenience and to render this opinion the more readily intelligible.
We have repeatedly held that every pleading is to be most strictly construed against the pleader thereof, that it is the first essential of good pleading that it be characterized by certainty, which quality is especially requisite in replications and rejoinders. See Hillsborough Grocery Co. v. Leman, 62 Fla. 208, 56 South. Rep. 684, wherein we discussed what should characterize a rejoinder which admits the correctness of certain statements in the replication but seeks to avoid the same. We have also held that, where a pleading has on its face two intendments, it must be construed most strictly against the party who pleads it. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Beazley, 54 Fla. 311, 45 South. Rep. 761. We have also held, where there are inconsistent or contradictory allegations or averments in a pleading, that such pleading would be tested by the weaker, rather than by the stronger, allegations or averments. We have likewise held that, where there are contradictory, repugnant or inconsistent statements in a pleading, such statements would have the effect of neutralizing each other and that such pleading would be held bad on demurrer.
Although Lowry & Prince were acting as brokers for the plaintiff in procuring insurance upon its property, it might also be true that, by virtue of what was actually done by them and the defendant in such transaction, the law would also hold them to be the agents of the defendant. That Lowry & Prince could act in the dual capacity of insurance brokers for the plaintiff in procuring insurance upon its property and also as agents for the defendant insurance company there can be no question. See Hooper v. State of California, 155 U. S. 648, 15 Sup. Ct. Rep. 207, in which the opinion was rendered by Mr. Justice White, and from which we take the following excerpt: “The admission that the insurance was procured for the resident from a foreign company, which had no agent in the State, does not exclude the possibility of its having been procured within the State. If it were obtained for the resident by a broker who was himself a resident, this would be a procuring within the State and be covered by the statute.
“The business of a broker is to serve as a connecting link between the party who is to be insured and the party who is to do the insuring — to bring about ‘the meeting of their minds,' which is necessary to the consummation of the contract. In the discharge of his business he is the representative of both parties to a certain
“Domat thus defines his functions: ‘The engagement of a broker is like to that of a proxy, a factor, or other agent; but, with this difference, that the broker, being employed by persons who having opposite interests to manage, he is, as it were, agent both for the one and the other to negotiate the commerce and affair in which he concerns himself. Thus, his engagement is twofold, and consists in being faithful to all the parties in the execution of what everyone of them entrusts him with. And his power is not to treat, but to explain the intentions of’ both parties, and to negotiate in such a manner as to put those who employ him in a condition to treat together personally.’ 1 Domat, bk. 1, tit. 17, Sec. 1, Strahan’s trans.
“Story says this statement of the functions of a broker is ‘a full and'exact description according to the sense of our law.’ Story’s Agency, 31, note 3, 9th ed.
“If the contention of the plaintiff in error were admitted the established authority of the State to prevent a foreign corporation from carrying on business within its limits, either absolutely or except upon certain conditions, would be destroyed. It would be only necessary for such a corporation to have an understanding with a resident that in the effecting of contracts between itself and other residents of the State, he should be considered the agent of the insured persons, and not of the company. This would make the exercise of a substantial and valuable power by a state government depend not on the actual facts of the transactions over which it lawfully seeks to extend its control, but upon the disposition of a corporation to resort to a mere sub
“The facts found here enforce the correctness of these views, and illustrate the evil which the statute was doubtless intended to prevent.
“Johnson & Higgins were average adjusters and brokers in New York City. Hooper, the plaintiff, as their agent, had a place of business in San Francisco. As such broker he applied for the insurance to his principals in New York City; the policy came to San Francisco for delivery, and the premium was there paid.”
Also see John R. Davis Lumber Co. v. Hartford Fire Insurance Co., 95 Wis. 226, 70 N. W. Rep. 84, 37 L. R. A. 131, wherein it was held as follows: “Although Sec. 1977, R. S., declares that whoever solicits or procures insurance from an insurance company on behalf of another, or makes any contract for insurance, or collects any premium, etc., shall be held to be an agent of such insurance company ‘to all intents and purposes,’ it cannot be construed to pervent an insurance broker employed to procure insurance for another from being the agent of the assured at the same time in procuring the policy; and the same rule applies as in other agencies, that the principal is bound by the acts and representations of the agent within the scope of his authority. Where the two relations conflict, the statute must prevail.”
We call especial attention to the similarity of the Wisconsin statute, quoted in the opinion rendered by Mr. Justice Marshall in the cited case, to our own statute, Section 2765 of the General Statutes of 1906, which we have copied above. Also see Shomar v. Hekla Fire Insurance Co., 50 Wis. 575, 7 N. W. Rep. 544, wherein was discussed the origin, history and object of the Wisconsin
We would also refer to State v. United States Mutual Accident Association, 67 Wis. 624, 31 N. W. Rep. 229; Stanhilber v. Mutual Mill Insurance Co., 76 Wis. 285, 45 N. W. Rep. 221; Stehlock v. Milwaukee Mechanics’ Insurance Co., 87 Wis. 322, 58 N. W. Rep. 379; Rose v. Kimberly & Clark Co., 89 Wis. 545, 62 N. W. Rep. 526, 27 L. R. A. 556; Wicks Bros. v. Scottish Union & National Insurance Co., 107 Wis. 606, 83 N. W. Rep. 781; Wisconsin Central R. Co. v. Phoenix Insurance Co., 123 Wis. 313, 101 N. W. Rep. 703; Welch v. Fire Association of Philadelphia, 120 Wis. 456, 98 N. W. Rep. 227; Presbyterian Ministers’ Fund v. Thomas, 126 Wis. 281, 105 N. W. Rep. 801.
In Queen Insurance Co. v. Patterson Drug Co., 73 Fla. 665, 74 South. Rep. 807, we had occasion to quote and discuss to some extent Sections 2765 and 2777 of the General Statutes of 1906, though we were not there dealing
We have examined all of the authorities which have been cited to us, as well as others, devoting especial attention to those cited by the defendant. The cases bearing upon the questions which we are now considering are so numerous and the results announced by the different courts are so varied that we cannot undertake to cite or discuss them all. It must be conceded that the authorities are more or less conflicting and that it would be impossible to reconcile or harmonize them. This is due
We cannot go into any extended discussion or analysis of all these cases. In the case of Allgeyer v. Louisiana, supra, the statute of Louisiana presented for construction, the nature of the action, the pleadings, facts and circumstances all differ so widely from those in the ins tant case that the principles announced in the opinion rendered in the cited case would seem to have but little applicability to the instant case. This is likewise true of the other decisions of the United States Supreme Court cited by the defendant. As was said in Allgeyer v. Louisiana, supra, text, page 590: “Has not a citizen of a State, under the provisions of the Federal Constitution above mentioned, a right to contract outside of the State
It will be observed on reading the opinion that the court was careful to differentiate that case from Hooper v. California, 155 U. S. 648, 15 Sup. Ct. Rep. 207, from which we have already quoted above. We would also call attention to the following holding in Allgeyer v. Louisiana, supra: “Hooper v. California, 155 U. S. 648, distin
“When or how far the police power of the State may be legitimately exercised with regard to such subjects must be left for determination in each case as it arises.”
We think that Hooper v. California, supra, is far more nearly in point to the instant case than the other Federal cases cited and relied upon by the defendant. We shall not stop to comment upon Swing v. Brewster, 87 Miss. 516, 40 South. Rep. 146; Swing v. Hill, 165 Ind. 411, 75 N. E. Rep. 658; Stone v. Old Colony St. Ry. Co., 212 Mass. 459, 99 N. E. Rep. 218, also cited and relied upon by the defendant, in all of which Allgeyer v. Louisiana, supra, is cited. We content ourselves with stating that we have carefully read the same and do not find they throw much light upon the points which we are now considering. We prefer to rest the conclusion which we have reached upon the principles announced in Hooper v. California, supra, and the Wisconsin and other cases which we have cited above.
As we read the pleadings in the instant case and the respective orders made thereon, which form the basis for the assignments now under consideration, we fail to find where any such orders had the effect of giving extraterritorial effect to either Section 2765 or 2777 of the General Statutes of 1906, or extending their operation into the State of Pennsylvania, as the defendant contends. The pleadings show that the property upon which the two policies were issued was situated in Florida and that such policies were delivered to the plaintiff in Florida by Lowry & Prince, who were not only acting as insurance brokers for the plaintiff in the transaction, but also as agents for the defendant. In other words, we are
We would call especial attention to Noble v. Mitchell, 164 U. S. 367, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 110, referred to above for
After quoting this language from his former opinion, Mr. Justice White goes on to say: “It inevitably results from this ruling that the State of Alabama, in virtue of the power possessed by it of excluding foreign fire insurance corporations from' its jurisdiction, could lawfully punish or regulate, by the imposition of civil liability, or otherwise, the doing of acts within the territory of the State calculated to neutralize and make ineffective the statute which prescribed conditions upon which alone the right existed in a foreign insurance corporation to do business within the State.” For the opinion rendered by the Alabama Supreme Court see 100 Ala. 519, 14 South. Rep. 581, 25 L. R. A. 238.
As we have already said by our two statutes which we are considering, all insurance companies doing business within the State, whether incorporated or not, domestic or foreign, are placed upon the same footing and enjoy equal privileges and immunities. This being true, the courts should not make a discrimination in favor of a foreign insurance corporation which is attempting to do business in Florida without complying with the statutory requirements. We would refer again to Queen Insurance Co. v. Patterson Drug Co., 73 Fla. 665, 74 South. Rep. 807, and call attention to what we have so recently said both on the subject of agents of insurance companies under our statutes and of the waiver by such agents of provisions in insurance policies. Also see the authorities there cited, especially Tillis v. Liverpool, L. & G. Insurance Co., 46 Fla. 268, 35 South. Rep. 171, 110 Am. St.
We next take up the sixth and seventh assignments which are argued together by the counsel for the defendant, being predicated upon the sustaining of the plaintiff’s demurrer to the defendant’s rejoinder, as stated in the brief of the defendant’s counsel, “the former being grounded on the fact that it was a good answer to the replications, the latter on the fact that the replications were bad.” In treating the first five assignments we have already held in effect that we were of the opinion that the rejoinder, which was filed to all the amended
We do not construe this clause as a condition precedent. Under our holding in Tillis v. Liverpool & London & Globe Co., supra, it would seem to be in the nature of a condition subsequent. Also see 2 Cooley’s Briefs on the Law of Insurance, 1480; and authorities there cited. Strictly speaking, such warranty clause may be neither a condition precedent or condition subsequent. See 2 Cooley’s Briefs on the Law of Insurance, 1121, and authorities there cited, especially Redman v. Aetna Insurance Co., 49 Wis. 431, 4 N. W. Rep. 591. We shall not pause to discuss this point, as it is a matter of no
In discussing the preceding assignments, we have already held adversely to this contention of the defendant, so there is no occasion to say more here. We do not understand the order of the Circuit Court as holding that the plaintiff could secure reformation of the policies in an action at law. We have also said that we did not consider that the replications constituted a departure in pleading.
The ninth assignment is that “The Court erred in holding that Lowry & Prince had authority to abrogate the contracts represented by the policies sued on, and make new and different contracts with the plaintiff.”
We have already discussed this assignment and expressed our views of the holding in Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Hilton-Green, 241 U. S. 613, 36 Sup. Ct. Rep. 676, the only authority cited in support of such assignment. It must be held to have failed.
The only remaining assignment is the eleventh, which is as follows: “The Court erred in sustaining the demurrer of the plaintiff to the defendant’s second plea.” The second plea is copied in full in the prefatory statement. It was filed to the declaration as constituting a full and complete defense to the action upon the two policies. The declaration, as well as the attached policies, shows that the insurance was upon both real and personal property. The defendant rightly says that the policies may be divisible and cites Hartford Fire Insurance Co. v. Hollis, 64 Fla. 89, 59 South. Rep. 785. The only other
The judgment will be affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. T am unable to agree with the conclusion arrived at by the court in this case.
The defendant’s first plea contained substantially the same averments of ultimate facts as its rejoinder, vis: The policies of insurance sued on were Pennsylvania contracts; that Lowry & Prince were not the defendant’s agents, but were agents for the plaintiff only. The plea then avers that each policy contained a certain warranty which the plaintiff had violated. The replication of the plaintiff which considered in its entirety was a mere traverse of the averments of the plea as to the contract being a Pennsylvania contract and that Lowry & Prince were agents only of the plaintiff alleged the contracts to be Florida contracts and a waiver of the warranty by defendant through Lowry & Prince who were alleged to be the defendant’s agents. Now the rejoinder merely took issue upon the allegations of the replication as to the contracts being Florida contracts and that Lowry &
If this rejoinder was true it constituted a perfect defense; because neither Section 2765 nor 2777 of the General Statutes of Florida, 1906, Florida Compiled Laws, 1914, can have any force or effect beyond the limits of the State of Florida by imposing upon the defendant and Lowry and Prince the relation of principal and agent in invihm. That a State cannot extend the operation of its statutes beyond its borders into the jurisdiction of another State is conceded to be true in the majority opinion, which contains excerpts from the opinion of Mr. Chief Justice White of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of New York Life Insurance Co. v. Head, 234 U. S. 149, 34 Sup. Ct. Rep. 879, upon that point. Therefore if Sections 2765 and 2777 of the General Statutes are to be applied in this case the defendant insurance company must be either a corporation of this State or actually doing business in this State through its officers or agents, or that the contracts sued on were made or executed in this State. This is true because the object upon which the statute acts, whether it be persons or things, must be within the State’s jurisdiction. As Mr. Chief Justice White said in the case referred to, there is a difference which in the nature of things must obtain “between questions concerning the operation and effect pf a State law within its borders and upon the conduct of persons confessedly within its jurisdiction; and its right to extend its authority beyond its borders so as to control contracts made between citizens of other States and virtually in fact to disregard the law of such
Now the defendant company was not a corporation of Florida, nor was it doing business in this State by and through any of its.officers or agents so the pleadings admit. The only question therefore, so far as this point is concerned is, were the contracts sued upon Florida contracts, or were they made and executed in Pennsylvania? The rejoinder avers that the contracts sued on “were written and executed by the defendant in the State of Pennsylvania and thereupon delivered and.sent by mail to the said Lowry & Prince at Tampa, Florida, as brokers of the plaintiff.” “That Lowry & Prince were not agents of the
The attack made by the demurrer upon the rejoinder, however, can in the nature of the case receive no assistance whatever from the sections of the General Statutes referred to, until it appears from the pleadings that the contracts of insurance are Florida contracts, because until that is established they cannot be affected or controlled by the laws of Florida. The defendant is not a Florida corporation. It was not at the time the policies were issued nor had been represented in this State by any officer or representative, nor do the policies themselves contain any clause as to the intention of the parties concerning any place according to the laws of which they desired the contracts to be governed. Nor do they provide that the payment of the premium shall be a condition precedent to their taking effect. All this is shown by the pleadings and exhibits A and B, which are made part of the declaration. When the contracts were entered into therefore if Lowry & Prince were not the defendant’s representative or agents then neither the proposition, acceptance nor delivery if necessary was made in this State. There was nothing so far as the defendant was concerned to which the statute could apply. If the contracts were made in this State, then certainly they will
Even when there is a local agent of the insurance company in the State where the property insured is located, but his authority is limited to receiving and forwarding applications to the insurer's home office for acceptance or rejection, there the contract will be deemed to have been made at such home office when a policy in substantial conformity to the application is mailed directly from such office to the insured or his agent in another State and no conditions precedent to its taking effect are expressly imposed and there is nothing in the transaction showing that the contract was intended to be left open until the receipt of the policy by the insured. See 2 Wharton on Conflict of Laws, 1011; State Mutual Fire Ins. Ass’n. v. Brinkley Stave & Heading Co., 61 Ark. 1, 31 S. W. Rep. 157, 29 L. R. A. 712; Northampton Mut. Live Stock Ins. Co. v. Tuttle, 40 N. J. L. 476; Rose v. Kimberly & Clark Co., 89 Wis. 545, 62 N. W. Rep. 526, 27 L. R. A. 556; Hart
Now it cannot be said from the pleadings in this case that either notice to the plaintiff of the acceptance of its application by the defendants for the insurance, or the delivery of the policies to the insured or the payment of the premium by the insured were conditions precedent to the taking effect of the policies; nor can it be said that the insertion of the warranty was a condition imposed by the defendant materially changing the terms of the original proposition. As to the latter proposition it will be observed that the policies sued on are attached to the declaration and made a part of it by apt words. They contain the warranty on their faces. The plaintiff alleged in its replication that “Lowry & Prince caused the defendant to write the said first policy of 1908 and said Lowry & Prince caused and procured the defendant to renew said
There is no distinction between the contracts considered in the two Florida cases cited and the contracts sued on in this case that requires the application of different
The act of Lowry & Prince in retaining from the amount of the premiums which they were instructed by the plaintiff to forward to the defendant the “usual brokers’ commission” did not have the effect of changing the situs of
The case of Miller Brewing Co. v. Council Bluffs Ins. Co., 95 Iowa 31, 63 N. W. Rep. 565, decided in 1895 upon a contract made in 1887 where the Supreme Court of that State held in effect that the mere writing of insurance upon property located in one State by a foreign insurance company of another State at its home office was the transaction of business in the former State I think is contrary to the view entertained by the Supreme Court of the United States in Allgeyer v. State of Louisiana, supra. I think the order of the court sustaining the demurrer to the rejoinder was erroneous, and the judgment should be reversed.
Rehearing
On Hearing.
The declaration is in the statutory form and alleges that the “defendant issued to the plaintiff its two certain policies of insurance on the 8th day of April, 1912, and thereby promised” &c. The policies were not .“declared upon in the declaration as Pennsylvania contracts, effected in the State of Pennsylvania on April 8th,
Section 2765, General Statutes, 1906, defines who “shall be deemed to. all intents and purposes an agent or representative of” any insurance company as follows: “Any person or firm in this State, who receives or receipts for any money on account of or for any contract of insurance made by him or them, or for such insurance company, association, firm or individual, aforesaid, or who receives or receipts for money from other persons to be transmitted to any such company, association, firm or individual, aforesaid, for a policy of insurance, or any renewal thereof, although such policy of insurance is not signed by him or them, as agent or representative of such company, association, firm or individual, or who in any wise, directly or indirectly makes or causes to be made, any contract of insurance for or on account of such insurance company, association, firm or individual, shall be deemed to all intents and purposes an agent or representative of such company, association, firm or individual.”
Any person or firm in this State doing the acts defined in this section for any insurance company, by the terms of the law “shall be deemed to all intents and purposes an agent or representative of such company.” This does not limit the agency “to the particular acts” done by the agent or representative for the insurance company.
The demurrer to the rejoinder does not admit asserted conclusions of law that Lowry & Prince were not agents of the insurance company and as to the situs of the contract. In the rejoinder facts are alleged that the court holds to be sufficient to make Lowry & Prince the agents of the insurance company under the statute and that such
Rehearing denied.