Wilson v. German-American Insurance

Citations

• 90 Kan. 355
• 133 P. 715
• 1913 Kan. LEXIS 217

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>Insurance — Oral Contract — Written Policy Not Completed— Company Liable. The owner of property contracted with an agent representing several insurance companies to insure property for a certain amount, hut did not designate the particular company in which the insurance should be taken, and at the same time he paid the premium and arranged with the agent to hold the policy and thereafter to keep the property insured. A policy was issued in a company, which shortly afterwards was canceled, and the agent then placed the insurance in another company represented by him, and that policy, too, was canceled. He then placed the insurance in the defendant company and began to write out a policy, but an interruption prevented its completion at the time and before it was finished the property was destroyed by fire. Held: (1) That the steps taken by the authorized agent of the company constituted a binding contract of insurance with the defendant; (2) that under the contract as pleaded the failure to furnish proofs of loss did not operate as a forfeiture; (3) that the action of the agent in agreeing with the property owner to hold the policy and keep his property insured was not repugnant to the duty of the agent to the defendant, nor did it affect the validity of the contract of insurance.</p>