Thе plaintiff has appealed from a judgment of nonsuit, assigning for error the adverse rulings of the court sustaining demurrer to Count 2, as amended, and to Count 3 of the complaint.
Count 2, as amended, was on an account stated, which in effect, setting out the quo modo or basis of the action (We have disapproved this method of pleading. Ingalls Steel Products Co. v. Foster & Creighton Co.,
Count 3 was ex contractu, based on the same correspondеnce and allegation that the $2500 was due and unpaid.
The -several letters, as material, will be reported with the case.
Having thus set out the facts, they must show a right of recovery and, under the recognized rule, construing them most strongly against the pleader, we must hold the complaint lacking in the requisite allegations and subject to several of the grounds o-f demurrer.
It will be observed that the character or terms of the policy are not indicated nor are they material, since the aсtion is not on the policy but on a subsequent, new, and different agreement to pay a sum of money. It is rested on an alleged promise to pay a loss claimed under a,policy after the loss has occurred, and to be actionable must be supported by a new -consideration. Great American Ins. Co. v. Dover,
This Dover case illustrates the principle. As аpplied to the replication in that -case where the insurer defended on the ground of plaintiff’s breach of a wаrranty and the replication set forth a promise of the insurer to pay notwithstanding the alleged breach, Justice Sayre, writing for the court, pointed out:
“ * * * It will -be noted the replication alleges a promise to pay, made after the lоss * * ' * it was not the -promise made by the policy of insurance alleged in the complaint, and, of -course, did not answer the intervening plea in the absence of *88 a new consideration. * * * In view of defendant’s objection- — demurrer-—it was necessary to allege * * * that the promise was supported by a new -consideration — that is, a consideration other than * * * the original premium -paid or promised for the policy. * * * ”
T-he same rule was declared in Life & Casualty Ins. Co. v. Powell,
“Without regard to other рossible defects * * * it is but an effort to -set -up a modification of the contract of insurance, in fact, the creation of a new -contract, based upon no new consideration whatever.”
As applied to accounts stated and the requisite -consideration to -support an action thereon, the case of Ivy Coal & Coke Co. v. Long,
“A promise, express or implied, is the basis of every -cause of action enforceable in assumpsit; and every promise, to amount to а cause of action, must be supported by a valuable consideration. An account stated involves a promisе, express or implied, to pay a real indebtedness agreed upon as due. The -consideration which placеs such promise on the plane of a contract is the agreement -of one party, for the agreement of th-e other, that a certain amount, and that only, is due on the matters embraced in the -settlement, wherefrom the law raises а new obligation on the part of t-he one against whom t-he balance -stands to pay that balance. In the absenсe of any original pecuniary obligation, there can be nothing to settle or to merge into an accounting, and hеnce a promise to pay a claim not founded on such obligation, though it purport to be made as upon an account stated, is not conclusive, and may be shown to be without consideration. Christian v. Niagara Fire Insurance Company,
It is clear the two count-s must be construed as -coming within the ban of t-he rule of these cases. The facts averred fail tо show any new consideration to support the claim. At most, the allegations only show a -claim presented by the plаintiff to the defendant for a purported fire 'loss under a numbered policy, under which there might or might not have been a liability, t-he request by the designated adjustor (whose authority is not shown) for the plaintiff to execute a proof of loss or claim fоr submission to the company, which the adjustor said would be paid. It -does not appear that there was any liability of the сompany nor any bona fide dispute as to any liability nor that there was -any real indebtedness due the plaintiff by the comрany. So without considering other possible defects, we are -certain the grounds of demurrer pertinent to the question wеre properly sustained.
On -like principle must it be held that there was no binding accord and satisfaction on which to rest а recovery. Barber v. Martin,
The principle of waiver or e-stoppel is likewise without application becаuse “estoppel is protective only * * * It is not a weapon of offense or aggression. To create a рrimary right to recover for loss or damage to property insured against loss or damage all the elements of a binding -contract are essential.” Union Marine & General Ins. Co., Limited, v. Holmes,
Affirmed.