Helbing v. Svea Ins. Co.

Citations

• 54 Cal. 156

Syllabus

<p>Eire Insurance—Warranty.—A provision in a policy of insurance, that the application for insurance shall be considered as a warranty, and that if the property insured is overvalued in it, the policy shall be void, applies only where the statement as to value is intentionally false.</p> <p>Id.—Fraud.—So, also, where the policy provides that all fraud, or attempt at fraud, by false swearing as to the loss, shall cause a forfeiture of all' claim under the policy, a wrongful or intentional false swearing is intended, and not a mere discrepancy, or innocent error.</p> <p>Id. — Evidence — Presumption.—Whether fraud is to be inferred from an excessive statement of the value of the property in the original application, or of the loss in the preliminary proofs, is a question of fact; and in neither case does a legal presumption of fraud arise; nor is the burden cast upon the assured to establish that liis statement was not intentionally false.</p> <p>Id.—Law of the Case.—Held, accordingly, that it was error in the Court below to instruct the jury that the existence of a discrepancy between the statement of the assured as to his loss, and the actual loss, Would give rise to a prima facie presumption of fraud; but that, as the instruction was in favor of the losing party, it must, perhaps, for the purposes of this case, be accepted as law.</p>