53 Pa. Super. 66 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1913
Opinion by
Samuel R. Shipley was, in his lifetime, the owner of the New Cliffs Hotel and cottages, situate at Newport, Rhode Island, the insurance upon which buildings was represented by certain policies which expired on May 17, 1908. Mr. Shipley died, on April 20, 1908, leaving a last will, under which he appointed the Provident Life & Trust Co., executor, and constituted said company trustee of his real estate in question. The policies of insurance then in force had been issued through the office of one Brightman, an insurance agent of Newport, who,
The plaintiff concedes that it is not entitled to recover unless there was a valid substitution of the policy in suit for the policy of the Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Co. which was in the hands of the assured at the time of the
This defendant can only be held liable upon the ground that it had assumed the responsibility prior to the loss. If this policy had become a binding obligation of this defendant, at the time of the fire, then the liability of the Pennsylvania upon its $2,500 policy was at an end: Arnfeld & Son v. Assurance Co., 172 Pa. 605. Had the $2,500 policy of the Pennsylvania Co. been canceled? If it had the assured knew nothing about it until after the fire occurred. The question must therefore turn upon the authority of Brightman to consent, on behalf of the assured, to a cancellation of the policy. There was no evidence that Brightman had ever received any oral instructions or grant of authority from the plaintiff; the testimony was, on the contrary, direct, explicit and uncontradicted that all communications between the parties had been in writing, and the correspondence was of
The letters of the plaintiff to Brightman did authorize him to obtain policies of insurance, to take the place of those expiring on May 17, 1908, to the amount of $34,000. He had procured the amount of insurance thus authorized, had delivered the policies to the plaintiff and had received payment of the premiums. There is nothing in any of the' letters conferring upon him any authority to further deal with the subject. The purpose of the agency was accomplished, the transaction closed and the powers of the agent, with regard to the subject-matter at an end: Standard Leather Company v. Insurance Company, 224 Pa. 178. There was in this case not a scintilla of evidence tending to> show that the trust company, as executor, had delegated to; Brightman a general authority to deal with the insurance upon the property in question. Brightman attempted to cancel the Pennsylvania policy without authority from the assured, the assured had not ratified the act before the loss occurred, and before there was an opportunity to ratify it the defendant company notified the assured! that it repudiated the transaction; this it had a right to do: McClintock v. South Penn Oil Co., 146 Pa. 144. This
The judgment is affirmed.