52 A. 858 | N.H. | 1902
The defendants are chargeable with the knowledge of the prior insurance communicated to their agent by the plaintiff. P. S., c. 170, s. 3; Perry v. Insurance Co.
It is held in many of the states that the insurers waive the condition in their policy, or are estopped to take advantage of it, when the fact which would render the policy void under the condition *443
exists at the inception of the contract and is known to the insurers. Reed v. Insurance Co.,
In this state the decided tendency of the decisions, if not their direct purport, has been to hold that insurers are estopped from setting up the fact which conflicts with the terms of the policy, in avoidance of their liability. Marshall v. Insurance Co.,
The legislation of the state has also had a decided tendency in the same direction. It discloses a constant effort "to provide for the speedy adjustment and payment of losses, to take away technical and inequitable defences, and at the same time to protect insurers from fraudulent claims and vexatious suits." Franklin v. Insurance Co.,
The exceptions to the rulings relating to the admission of testimony must also be overruled. The adjuster's testimony relating to sympathy for the plaintiff, if erroneously admitted, was harmless. The inquiry of the plaintiff as to his tax for 1901 related to a collateral matter more or less remotely, if indeed at all, *445 connected with the issue, and the ruling excluding it is not open to review here.
Exceptions overruled.
All concurred.