United States Fire Insurance Company, Plaintiff-Counter v. Gene L. Cavanaugh, Cathy Cavanaugh, and Atlas Underwriters, Defendants-Counter

I dissent because the majority has misconstrued the role of barratry in this drama. The majority’s result can be predicated only upon a conclusion that the captain’s barratry extended the insurance cov*836erage. As I see it, the result of the barratry was the owner’s loss of coverage. It was a grievous loss to the owner, but not one of the losses against which the policy provided coverage. The insurance policy did not provide coverage against the loss of its own coverage; it insured against loss of the vessel. In maritime matters, the insured may recover only if a peril covered under the policy…