Bartels Brewing Co. v. Employers' Indemnity Co.

Citations

• 251 Pa. 63
• 95 A. 919
• 1915 Pa. LEXIS 635

Syllabus

<p>Insurance — Employers’ liability insurance — Notice of accidents —Unreasonable delay — Waiver—Judgment for defendant n. o. v.</p> <p>1. The provisions of employers’ liability policies requiring that the insured shall furnish immediate notice both of any accident by which the insured may be rendered liable, and of any claim against the insured arising therefrom, are valid and of the essence of the contract, being designed to enable the insurer to investigate the circumstances of the accident while the matter is yet fresh in the minds of all, and to make timely defense against any claim filed; and where an accident has happened and no notice has been given to the insurer within a reasonable time thereafter it will be discharged of liability.</p> <p>2. In an action on an employers’ liability policy providing that “upon the occurrence of an accident the assured shall give immediate notice in writing of such accident, with the fullest information then available, to the company, at its head office......If a claim is made on account of such accident the assured shall give like notice thereof with full particulars,” it appeared that on October 30, 1909, a child was injured by one of defendant’s teams in charge of its driver, that the occurrence of the accident was known to plaintiff’s representative in the county where it, occurred almost immediately thereafter, but that no notice of the accident was given defendant until January 27,1910, and that no information concerning the circumstances was given until April 20, 1910. Held, that plaintiff’s failure to give the notice and information required by the contract until more than six months after the accident, relieved the defendant of liability and on appeal judgment was entered for defendant n. o. v.</p> <p>3. In such case there was no waiver by the defendant of the requirement of the policy as to notice, by reason of the fact that when notice of the accident was first received it promptly repudiated liability, but offere