Manufacturers & Merchants' Insurance v. Armstrong

Citations

• 145 Ill. 469
• 34 N.E. 553

Syllabus

<p>1. Insurance—power of agent to waive conditions. When a general agent of an insurance company has- the authority to issue a policy with or without certain conditions, such agent may, by contract with one assured, waive the performance of such conditions for such time as he may think proper.</p> <p>2. Where a policy of insurance had been issued by the general agents of an insurance company, to which was attached certain conditions, that, unless certain appliances should be placed on the premises within sixty days to guard against fire, and to be used in extinguishing fire, the policy should be void, the insured, before acceptance of the policy, informed the agents of the insurer that it was impossible to provide the appliances within the sixty days, and the latter replied that the assured should go on and do the best they could, whereupon the policy was accepted, and a loss occurred before the conditions were fully performed: Held, that the agreement amounted to a waiver of the time of performance of the conditions, notwithstanding the policy contained a clause that no waiver of any condition should be valid unless written upon or attached to the policy, which was not done.</p> <p>3. Same—waiver of forfeiture. A provision in a policy of insurance that it shall become void in a certain event, will not render the policy absolutely void upon the happening of such event; such a provision being for the benefit of the insurer, it may be waived by the latter, and when this is done, neither the insured nor third parties can claim that the insurance is void.</p> <p>4. If an insurance company, through its general agents, with the knowledge that the assured have not complied with the condition of the policy in regard to making improvements for the protection of the property insured, recognizes the policy as in full force, and leads the assured to believe that they are protected, it will be estopped from relying on a breach of the condition as a defense to an action for a los