In this suit in assumpsit brought by the Insurance Commissioner of the Commonwealth as the statutory liquidator of the Keystone Mutual Casualty Company, to collect unpaid premiums alleged to be due the insurance company from defendant for the period during which a policy issued by the company was in force, defendant has filed preliminary objections to plaintiff’s complaint. Defendant does not contend that plaintiff may not collect for the period the policy was in force but objects to the method of calculation used to determine the amount due, and asserts that under the gross receipts method of calculation defendant has paid all that is due, while admitting that on the pro rata share basis of the minimum annual premium agreed upon, the additional amount claimed would be due. The question presented depends upon the interpretation and application of the terms of the original contract. The policy covered public liability and property damage for vehicles used in a transportation business and the portion of the contract relating to premiums reads as follows:
Since defendant admits that it owes premiums in some amount from October 22, 1946, the effective date of the policy, to June 26, 1947, when the policy was cancelled by reason of the insolvency of the insurer, the point to be determined is whether plaintiff may now elect to collect the pro rata share of the minimum annual premium or may collect only the amount due as calculated upon the gross receipts basis for the period. Nowhere in the policy is there any provision governing cancellations by either party.
“The Assured further agrees that irrespective as to the extent of its operations of ■ automobiles and/or trailers, to pay to the Company a minimum annual premium of $2384.00 for the coverage extended under this policy, and that the deposit premium paid to the Company during the term of this policy shall equal at all times the pro rata earned part of said minimum premium.” (Italics supplied.)
Counsel report a dearth of authority on the question here involved, probably due to the fact that in most instances the gross receipts basis of calculation usually exceeds the minimum premium, which might have been true in this case except that the policy had been in force during the winter months when defendant’s boat transport business would probably be at a low ebb. There is one case, however, which tends to corroborate our conclusion that plaintiff is entitled to collect the pro rata share of the minimum annual premium. In Commercial Standard Ins. Co. v. Riss & Co., 238 Mo. App. 231, 179 S. W. (2d) 641, the question of the method to be used in calculating the premiums due upon cancellation of a liability insurance policy arose under circumstances somewhat similar to the case at bar. And while the case did not hinge on this point the court makes this significant statement:
“By its terms plaintiff is entitled to collect, as premium, 2 % of the gross revenue earned by defendant during the period the policy remained in force; or it may collect on the basis of $242.57 per annum for each vehicle operated by defendant during the ‘policy period,’ prorated on the number of days said vehicles actually
It seems evident that the statutory liquidator of the insurance company under the terms of the policy here in question is entitled to bring suit for the pro rata share of the minimum annual premium for the period during which the policy was in force and we therefore enter the following order:
And now, to wit, April 14, 1950, it is ordered, adjudged and decreed that defendant’s preliminary objections to plaintiff’s complaint filed January 21, 1950, are overruled and dismissed. Defendant is given 20 days to file an answer if desired.
