63 Neb. 21 | Neb. | 1901
The plaintiff became a member of the defendant, a mutual fire insurance company, and received a policy covering his barn and granary, and the wagons, buggies, harness, farm implements and machinery, hay and grain therein. In December, 1896, all of this property was destroyed by fire. At that time he was delinquent in payment of an assessment levied long prior for the purpose of meeting prior losses. The policy contained these provisions: “If the member who holds this policy fails to pay any assessment * * * at the time specified in the notice sent him by the secretary, this policy shall become null and void, but if he afterward pay the amount due from him this policy shall be holding from the date of the receipt of said amount then due. The company, however, will not be held liable during the time that this policy was made void by such delinquency.” In order to avoid said provisions of the policy, which were pleaded and relied upon by defendant, the plaintiff pleaded and testified that after the loss, and with knowledge thereof, the defendant received the amount of said delinquent assessment, and also two subsequent assessments levied after the loss. He pleaded further and now insists that the delinquent assessment was irregular and of no validity and that proper notice thereof was not given. The lower court directed a verdict for the defendant and error is prosecuted from such ruling.
We need not consider the validity of the assessment nor
By the Court: For.the reasons stated in the foregoing' opinion, the judgment of the district court is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial.
Reversed and remanded.