Susq. M. Fire Ins. v. Stauffer

Citations

• 125 Pa. 416
• 17 A. 471
• 1889 Pa. LEXIS 733

Syllabus

<p>(a) The by-laws of a mutual fire insurance company provided: “§ 27. If at any time hereafter, an assessment shall be made, the amount to be levied on premium notes, or policies of insurance, shall be rated according to the following classification:</p> <p>‘ ‘ First. All membei'S whose policies are in force at the time the assessment may be declared, shall be liable to assessment for all losses, adjusted, unadjusted, and unpaid, and all other liabilities then existing against the company, subject to abatement as hereinafter specified.</p> <p>“ Second.. All members whose policies have expired, and are not in force at the time such assessment is declared, shall nevertheless be liable to assessment for all unpaid losses, and other liabilities, which existed at the time of the expiration of such policy or policies, pro rata with those then in force, and the amount thus ascertained and levied upon such expired policies, to be deducted from the gross amount of liabilities of the company for which such assessment is to be made, and balance of liabilities, then remaining, to be assessed upon the policies then in force.”</p> <p>1. The scheme intended by the by-law was, that all policies which were in force at the time of the assessment, or at the time of the loss, both or either, should be liable for the loss, but the assessment should be laid in the first instance, upon the policies in force at the time of the loss, whether since expired or not; and the policies issued subsequent to the loss, and remaining in force at the time of the assessment, were to be assessed only for the balance, if the first branch of the assessment should be insufficient.</p> <p>2. The by-law simply added to the general rule, that losses shall be paid by the policies in force at the time of their occurrence, another provision which is not unlawful, that if the assessment against such policies prove insufficient, then all existing policies, even though issued subsequently to the losses, shall be l