Comerer v. Patrons' Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Southern Pennsylvania

Citations

• 53 Pa. Super. 516
• 1913 Pa. Super. LEXIS 213

Syllabus

<p>Insurance — Fire insurance — Evidence as to existence of policy — Case for jury.</p> <p>1. In an action to recover on a fire insurance policy where the plaintiff does not produce the policy, and the defendant denies its existence, the case must be submitted to the jury, where the evidence for the plaintiff, although contradicted, tends to show that the plaintiff had in her possession at the time of the fire a policy for an amount stated and issued in a year named, that it covered the property destroyed by the fire, had been issued by the company defendant, and had been delivered to the secretary of the company after the date of the fire.' In such a case the defendant cannot set up as a defense that the suit had not been brought within twelve months from the date of the fire, where there is no proof whatever one way or the other, of the existence in the policy of any provision that suit should be brought within such time.</p> <p>Evidence — Letter—Handwriting.</p> <p>2. Where a letter is received by due course of mail and purports to come in answer from a person to whom a prior letter has been sent, the receipt of such letter makes a prima facie case in favor of its genuineness and dispenses with the proof of the handwriting of the sender.</p> <p>3. Where a witness produces a letter which the sender admits to be genuine, such witness is competent to testify that a second letter, the genuineness of which is denied, was signed in the same way, and came through the mails from the same post office as the first letter.</p> <p>Evidence — Interest of witness — Divestment of interest.</p> <p>4. Where the court has passed upon the good faith of an assignment by which a witness has divested himself of all interest in the controversy, and the witness has been permitted to testify, the question of the good faith of the assignment cannot subsequently be submitted to the jury.</p>