Employers' Liability Assurance Corp. v. Roehm

Citations

• 99 Ohio St. (N.S.) 343

Syllabus

<p>Insurance — Indemnity — Construction of policy — Notice to insurer — Time of essence of contract, when — Trivial injury subsequently proves serious — Whether notice given within time — Question for jury — Accident insurance ■ — Loss of eyesight develops after slight injury.</p> <p>A provision in a policy of indemnity insurance, to the effect that written notice should be given the company within 30 days from the date of sustaining the injury, is of the essence of the contract, and like other contracts should be construed so as to give effect to the intention and express language of the parties. This rule of law is subject to the qualification, that if at the time of the accident, and within the period stipulated for the giving of notice, no reasonable ground existed warranting a belief that the injury was anything but trivial in its character, not justifying a claim for damages, and it subsequently develops that as a result of such accident serious consequences have ensued, and that immediately upon being advised of this fact the insured gives written notice to the insurer, the question whether the notice was given within time is not a matter of law, but is a question for the determination of a jury. (The last clause of the fourth proposition of the syllabus in the case of The Travelers’ Insurance Co. v. Myers & Co., 62 Ohio St., 529, is disapproved.)</p>