Pollard v. Phœnix Insurance

Citations

• 63 Miss. 244

Syllabus

<p>1. Pleading. Pi-averse. Contract of fire insurance. Condition to render account of loss as soon as possible, construed.</p> <p>P. sued an insurance company on a fire-insurance contract, and set out in the declaration that a fire occurred in June, 1884, destroying his stock of goods, and that he furnished the company with proof of the loss in the next September. The company pleaded that there was a condition in the contract that P. would render the defendant a particular account of his loss as soon as possible after the fire. P. replied that he did render a particular account of his loss as soon as possible after the fire, and “as the nature of the case and surrounding circumstances would admit.” Meld, on demurrer, that this replication directly traverses the plea and is sufficient, and that the addition of the words quoted was a mere expression of what the law implies in every such case.</p> <p>2. Fire Insurance. Contract of. Privilege license of merchant. Section 589, Code of 1880, construed.</p> <p>Under $ 589, Code of 1880, which provides that any person who shall exercise any of the privileges enumerated in chapter ten, Code of 1880, “ Without first paying the price and procuring license as required, shall on conviction be fined * * * * or imprisoned * * or by both * * * and all contracts made with any person who shall violate this act, in reference to the business carried on in disregard of this law, shall be null and void so far only as such person may base any claim upon them, and no suit shall be maintainable in favor of such person on any such contract,” a merchant who fails to procure any license or procures an insufficient license to carry on the business of merchant, as required by chapter ten, Code of 1880, cannot recover upon a contract of insurance against loss by fire on his stock of goods if the contract was made while he was without a license or had an insufficient license to carry on his business, since such contract of insurance is “in referen