Gove v. Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
Assumpsit on a policy of insurance issued by said company to the plaintiff on the 12th day of January, 1864. For the-purposes-of-this decision, and no other, the following facts .-are agreed upon : The property insured was destroyed’by fire on the 19th day of March, 1867. The plaintiff was the owner of- two undivided third.parts-of-the same.
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Assumpsit on a policy of insurance issued by said company to the plaintiff on the 12th day of January, 1864. For the-purposes-of-this decision, and no other, the following facts .-are agreed upon : The property insured was destroyed’by fire on the 19th day of March, 1867. The plaintiff was the owner of- two undivided third.parts-of-the same. The buildings were intentionally set on fire by . the-wife of- the plaintiff -who was insane at the time,-and is.now . in the -Asylum at Concord. She had not been in the Asylum before the fire, and had frequently been left alone two or three hours at a…
1Opinion of the CourtNesmith, J.
The doctrine now appears to be well settled by the authorities, that a loss by fire on land, occasioned by the mere fault and negligence of the insured party, his servants or agents, without fraud or design, is a loss protected by the policies, and as such recoverable from the underwriters. Judge Story in Waters v. The Merchants’ Louisville Ins. Co., 11 Peters 213; Sherwood v. General Mutual Ins. Co., 14 Howard 351; 3 Kent's Com. 374, and notes; Ruck v. Royal Exchange Co.; Angell on Ins. secs. 124-5, and 122; 2 Barn. & Ald. 73; Dixon v. Sadler, 5 M. & W. 405; 8 M. & W. 894; Shaw v. Robarts, 6…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Waters v. Merchants' Louisville InsuranceSupreme Court of the United States · 1837
- Williams v. New England Mutual Fire InsuranceSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1850
- Hynds v. Schenectady County Mutual InsuranceNew York Supreme Court · 1852
3Cited by1 opinion
- Baker v. Commercial Union InsuranceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1981