Granville v. American Casualty Co.

Citations

• 69 Wash. 154
• 124 P. 486
• 1912 Wash. LEXIS 864

Syllabus

<p>Insurance—Actions on Policy—Pleading—Reply—Departure. In an action upon a policy of accident insurance, in which the defendant pleaded warranties in the application and breaches thereof, in that plaintiff had an atrophied leg, warranted as sound except for a slight weakness in the ankle, it is not a departure for the plaintiff to reply that he had an atrophied leg, which he disclosed to the agent and to deny that it was a bodily infirmity except to the extent mentioned in the application, i. e., a slight weakness in the ankle.</p> <p>Insurance—Actions on Policy—Pleading and Issues—Breach of Warranty—Burden of Proof. In an action upon a policy of accident insurance, in which the defendant alleged a breach of warranty, in that plaintiff had an atrophied “skeleton” leg much smaller and weaker than the other, which plaintiff had warranted as sound except for a slight weakness in the ankle, a reply admitting an atrophy of the leg and a diminution in its size, but denying that it caused any infirmity other than a weak ankle, as stated in the application, raises an issue of fact for the jury, and it is error to rule, as a matter of law, that the reply admits a breach of warranty; the burden of proving the breach of warranty being upon the defendant.</p> <p>Insurance—Warranty—Breach—Waiver-—Knowledge of Agent. Where the insured fully and truthfully disclosed his condition to the insurance agent who procured the policy, a warranty clause in the policy will not be held breached for a cause known to the agent before the application was signed, since the knowledge of the agent is the knowledge of the principal, and the company will he held to have waived the written warranties in so far as they are not in harmony with the facts disclosed.</p>