Goddard v. Northwestern Mutual Fire Ass'n

Citations

• 85 Wash. 585
• 148 P. 893
• 1915 Wash. LEXIS 862

Syllabus

<p>Insurance- — Forfeiture—Nonpayment of Notes for Premiums. Where an insurance policy does not prohibit payment of the premium by promissory note, and the company’s agents issued a certificate of assignment to the insured reciting the payment of the premium, the acceptance of the note for the premium is a payment thereof; and nonpayment of such note at maturity does not work a forfeiture of the policy.</p> <p>Appeal and Error — Harmless Error — Exclusion of Evidence. In an action on a fire insurance policy for a loss of wheat in a warehouse, in which the defense was that the plaintiff had procured the burning of the warehouse, the exclusion of evidence of the incendiary burning of another warehouse in which plaintiff had insured wheat in storage, and of the plaintiff’s financial condition, is harmless, where there was no other substantial evidence of the incendiary origin of the fire; since the excluded evidence was insufficient to sustain the defense.</p> <p>Insurance — Extent of Loss — Salvage. In an action for loss on a fire insurance policy, a verdict for the full market value of wheat lost in the burning of a storage warehouse was excessive, where, after the fire, the warehouseman sold a considerable quantity of damaged wheat, the larger portion of which was plaintiff’s, and gave plaintiff credit thereon; and a proportionate reduction should be made in the amount of the verdict and judgment.</p>