North Western Insurance v. Phœnix Oil & Candle Co.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error, to the Common Pleas of JErie county. This was an action of assumpsit by the Phoenix Oil and Candle Company of New York against the North Western Insurance Company, on a policy of insurance issued by the defendants on the 6th December 1854, whereby they insured the plaintiffs, for the term of one year, against loss or damage by fire, to the extent of $2500, on their steam boiler, steam-engine, &c.
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Error, to the Common Pleas of JErie county. This was an action of assumpsit by the Phoenix Oil and Candle Company of New York against the North Western Insurance Company, on a policy of insurance issued by the defendants on the 6th December 1854, whereby they insured the plaintiffs, for the term of one year, against loss or damage by fire, to the extent of $2500, on their steam boiler, steam-engine, &c. A by-law of the defendants, which was annexed to and made a condition of the policy, provided as follows : — “No suit or action at law or equity, shall be sustainable against this company upon…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Lowrie, C. J.
It is one of the most important of the rights of a fvee people, that they are allowed to institute and define by contract the most of the business relations arising among them ; and that, the substance of their contracts being lawful, the details and forms of them are dictated by themselves, and then they are enforced by law according to their intention. This right is considered* sufficiently sacred to be protected by the Constitution, which forbids any law to be made impairing contracts; and it is embodied in the old maxim conventio…
2Cited by12 opinions
- Hocking v. Howard InsuranceSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1889
- O'Connor v. Allemannia Fire InsuranceSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1937
- Abolin v. Farmers Amer. Mut. Fire Ins.Superior Court of Pennsylvania · 1930
- Selden v. Metropolitan Life InsuranceSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1946
- National Ins. v. Brown, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Crawford County1889
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