Cerf v. Home Insurance

Citations

• 44 Cal. 320
• 1872 Cal. LEXIS 202

Syllabus

<p>Construction of Fire Insurance Policy.—Where a policy of fire insurance upon goods in a store contained a clause prohibiting the use of any burning fluid or chemical oils, and a subsequent clause expressly permitting the use of kerosene oils for lights in dwellings: Held, that the use of kerosene oil as a light in the store rendered the policy null and void.</p> <p>Idem.—Where the owner of a store in which the goods were assured slept in a small back room at the store, with his clerk, but kept a kerosene lamp burning at night in the store, for protection against burglars: Held, that such use did not constitute the premises a dwelling, so as to avoid a clause in the policy which prohibited the use of kerosene light in the store.</p>