Emerson v. Western Automobile Indemnity Ass'n

Citations

• 105 Kan. 242
• 182 P. 647
• 1919 Kan. LEXIS 59

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Automobile Indemnity Association — An Insurance Company. An incorporated association, whose business is that of indemnifying its members against loss resulting from damages inflicted by automobiles upon person or property of others, is an insurance company, and, by virtue of the provisions of section 51 of the civil code, an action on the contract of indemity may be brought in the county in which the plaintiff resides.</p> <p>2. Same — Damages — Condition Precedent to Action on Policy. The policy and by-laws of the defendant considered, and held, that payment in money by the policyholder of his loss or expense, after trial of the issue, is a condition precedent to action on the policy. Held further, this condition is not waived or forfeited by defending the action in which the issue was tried, pursuant to a by-law casting such defense on the insurer.</p> <p>3. Same — Wrongful Conduct of Insurer — Estoppel. If the insurer, by wrongful conduct, unjustifiably prevent payment of loss in money after trial of the issue, it will he precluded from asserting, in an action on the policy, that the policy did not mature by reason of nonpayment.</p> <p>4. Same. In such an action, certainty that payment would have been made if the insurer had not meddled, is not essential to estoppel. Reasonable assurance, under all the circumstances, that payment would have been made is sufficient.</p> <p>5. Evidence — Privileged Communications. Good-faith communications between attorney and client, relating to the best method of protecting the client’s interests, are privileged; and the rule that privilege may not be urged respecting communications relating to perpetration of fraud is limited, ordinarily, to cases of actual fraud, involving moral turpitude.</p>