Ford v. Aetna Life Insurance Co. of Hartford

Citations

• 70 Wash. 29
• 126 P. 69
• 1912 Wash. LEXIS 993

Syllabus

<p>Insurance — Indemnity Insurance — Contract — Construction— Assumption of Defense — Liability. A policy of indemnity insurance indemnifying an employer against loss “actually sustained and paid in money by him after actual trial of the issue,” indemnities against loss only and not against liability, and is not enlarged by stipulations reserving to the company the right to defend the suit and the fact that the company assumed the defense.</p> <p>Frauds, Statute of — Debt of Another. Where an insurance company was liable on an indemnity policy only after actual payment of the judgment, the agent’s oral promise to plaintiff to pay the judgment was the promise to pay the debt of another, and void as within the statute of frauds.</p> <p>Contracts — Consideration. A promise to pay one’s own judgment is without consideration.</p> <p>Estoppel — Equitable Estoppel. Where judgment debtors were insolvent at the time judgment was entered and conditions did not change, a subsequent promise to pay the judgment by one who was garnishee therefor, does not estop the garnishee from denying liability to the judgment debtor.</p> <p>Garnishment — Rights Acquired. The plaintiff in garnishment acquires no better right to the debt than his debtor has.</p> <p>Pleading — Departure—Garnishment. It is a departure for plaintiff in garnishment to seek recovery from the garnishee on the theory that the garnishee was indebted to the plaintiff.</p>