Hume, Small & Co. v. Providence Washington Insurance

Citations

• 23 S.C. 190
• 1885 S.C. LEXIS 92

Syllabus

<p>1. A mere equitable interest in property may be the subject of insurance.</p> <p>2. An omission to charge, even upon an issue raised by the pleadings, is not error of law, unless the judge was requested to charge thereon and he refused; and, in a law case, only errors of law can be considered by this court.</p> <p>3. In an action on a policy of insurance on an American vessel, the alien-age of the plaintiffs as a defence under the statutes of the United States must be specially pleaded in the answer; otherwise, evidence upon the subject is irrelevant, and an omission to charge thereon no error of law.</p> <p>4. The statutes of the United States forbidding an alien to own an American vessel under pain of forfeiture, does not prevent alien owners from recovery, in case of loss, on a policy of insurance, based upon a valuable consideration.</p> <p>5. Where aliens purchase a vessel and have the title made to a citixen, but really for their benefit, they may lawfully take in their own names a policy of insurance upon such vessel, the policy not being designed to aid an illegal purchase.</p> <p>6. In action on a policy of insurance, questions of misrepresentation and concealment are pure questions of fact for the jury.</p> <p>7. It is the duty of the judge to construe a policy of insurance, a written instrument, and to explain what is meant by the term ‘‘deviation,” and its effect, and then to leave it to the jury to say whether the facts found make out the defence of deviation.</p> <p>8. It seems that deviation is a doctrine that applies to particular voyages only, and is inapplicable where a vessel is insured for a year and does not go beyond the limits specified in the policy.</p> <p>9. In determining whether the Circuit Judge has committed error of law in his instructions to the jury, the charge must be considered as a whole.</p> <p>10.When the loss of a vessel has happened wholly from one of the perils insured against, the negligence of the master and crew in fail