55 N.H. 110 | N.H. | 1875
Lead Opinion
The first question which arose at the trial was on the motion for a nonsuit. The first reason assigned was the fact that after the fire the foreclosure of the mortgage had been completed, and therefore the plaintiff had no longer any interest as mortgagee. It seems to me to be plain enough that the plaintiff's rights in this regard were fixed given the property was destroyed by fire. I do not see how the foreclosure of the mortgage could in any way have operated to defeat the plaintiff's right to recover the amount which remained due on the mortgage.
It is true that by our law the foreclosure of the mortgage is prima facie payment of the mortgage debt, and if the objection had been made in this form it would have compelled the plaintiff to go forward, and, by showing the value of the property which remained after the fire, show the amount of his debt still remaining unpaid. This being an objection which might have been removed by evidence if seasonably taken must be considered as waived, and this branch of the motion was rightly overruled. The other branch was also rightly overruled, as will be shown hereafter.
The first instruction requested by the defendants, and the instructions actually given on the same subject, may be considered together.
The case shows that at the time of the making of the policy in suit it was not intended that the N. A. policy should be cancelled. It was not until a fortnight after the making of this policy that the plaintiff got notice that the N. A. Co. had suspended, and, on taking out the Germania policy, agreed that the N. A. policy should be cancelled. It would be difficult, I think, according to the ordinary rules of evidence, to prove an agreement to waive that condition previous to, or at the time of, making the policy with the condition in it; but I think that it was the duty of the agent to cause the proper endorsement to be made on the policy at the time it was issued, and he not having done so, and the plaintiff having paid his premium and taken his policy relying upon this, that the defendant company would be estopped from taking the objection; so that practically the result is the same, and there would be no reason to disturb the verdict for this cause.
If these views are correct, the portion of the charge numbered ten is, in this particular, immaterial.
So far, then, the instructions of the court to the jury were well enough, and the second branch of the motion for a nonsuit is also disposed of.
The evidence tended clearly to show that it was agreed that the Market policy was cancelled, and that it was cancelled. The term cancel is, I think, often used as equivalent to destroy, or put an end to, and probably is not often understood by parties who use it as meaning the actual erasure of a writing, or the destruction of the paper on which it is written. I cannot doubt, when the policy was surrendered to *117 the agent, and the unused premium restored to the insured for the purpose of putting an end to the policy, that an end was put to it, unless it should appear that the agent assuming to do this had not the necessary authority. All we know from the case is, that he returned the policy to the company, and that nothing more was heard of it. The request of the defendants on this point was rightly denied.
The instructions numbered five, six, seven, and eight — so far as related to subsequent insurance, on the authority of Clark v. Ins. Co.,
As the case finds that the agent, Davis, had full knowledge of all the circumstances about the occupation of the house, and as the agent's knowledge is to be taken to be the defendants' knowledge, the instructions numbered there and four seem to be immaterial.
The instructions requested by the defendants, numbered two and three, have been sufficiently disposed of in considering the instructions actually given.
The case does not show that any evidence was offered tending to prove over-insurance, so that the requested instruction numbered four was uncalled for.
It is not necessary to determine whether the statute, — Gen. Stats., ch. 157, sec. 2, — was rightly applied in the instructions numbered eleven and twelve, as the instruction in regard to the deduction to be made in the amount insured appears to have been erroneous. The instruction was, that the jury should deduct the amount by which the premium ought to have been increased from the amount of insurance. If, for instance, the jury had found that the premium should have been increased one dollar, they would by this rule have deducted one dollar from the amount insured, whereas, in this case the amount of insurance should be reduced by 1-21 part, which would have been nearly $200, viz., $190.48. *118
It is suggested in the plaintiff's argument, that, as the verdict shows that the jury made no deduction, the mistake in the charge could have done no harm, but I am not satisfied that the result would have been such if the jury had been made to understand how largely the amount insured would have been reduced by a small increase in the amount of premium.
The defendants' counsel in his brief takes the position that the action cannot by maintained in the name of the present plaintiff; but I cannot find in the case any evidence that such position was taken at the trial, and it must therefore be considered as waived.
In the case of Chamberlain v. Insurance Company, post, decided at this (March) term, it is held in a similar case that the action was rightly brought.
For the error in instructions eleven and twelve, the verdict must be set aside.
Concurrence Opinion
The instruction as to the deduction to be made in case the jury should think the risk was increased, was clearly and confessedly wrong, inasmuch as they were directed to deduct the amount they thought the premium ought to have been increased, instead of a sum proportionate to their estimate or the increase of the risk. But it is said the verdict shows conclusively that this erroneous rule was not used by the jury in assessing the damages, because they have the full amount of the policy; that no deduction whatever being made, it is certain the rule was not applied; and, therefore, the defendants were not prejudiced, and the verdict should not be set aside. If we were dealing with a pure matter of mathematics, this would be so, undoubtedly. But when we observe that the instruction, in its practical application, required the jury to deduct only one dollar where they should have deducted about two hundred, it seems to me impossible to say that the defendants were not prejudiced. It is not difficult to suppose that a jury might consider one dollar or five dollars as too trifling a sum to be deducted from a verdict of four thousand dollars, when, had they understood the practical effect to be a deduction of two hundred or one thousand dollars, they might have regarded the matter in quite a different light. Upon this ground I am of opinion that the verdict should be set aside, without inquiring whether the mistake, if there was one, comes within the scope and application of Gen. Stats., ch. 157, sec. 2, or not.
FOSTER, C.J., C. C. I entirely concur in all the views expressed by my learned brethren, suggesting, as they have done, that it becomes unnecessary to consider the question of the applicability of ch. 157, sec. 1, Gen. Stats., to the present case; but, for a consideration of that matter, I refer to my opinion in Chamberlain v. New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company, post.
Verdict set aside and a new trial granted. *119