Bentley v. Columbia Insurance
New York Supreme Court
THIS action was brought to recover the amount of the plaintiff’s loss by fire, upon a policy executed by the defendants, dated 26th February, 1848. The cause was tried before his honor, Judge Edwards; and a jury, on the 21st March, 1851, when a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, for $4,797.98, subject to further argument upon the questions of law reserved.
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THIS action was brought to recover the amount of the plaintiff’s loss by fire, upon a policy executed by the defendants, dated 26th February, 1848. The cause was tried before his honor, Judge Edwards; and a jury, on the 21st March, 1851, when a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, for $4,797.98, subject to further argument upon the questions of law reserved. The defendants, being a foreign corporation, created by an act of the legislature of the state of Pennsylvania, and authorized to make insurance against loss or damage by fire, established an agency for the transaction of such…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court,
Mitchell, J.
It has become familiar law that incorporated companies may contract by paroi; and may therefore, like private individuals, appoint their agents by paroi; and that the fact of the appointment, and the extent of the authority conferred, may, as in the case of private individuals, be established by proof of the acts of the alleged agent, known to and ratified by the company. In this case it was shown that Whitney was the agent of the defendants, and that policies were left in his custody, to be valid and binding upon the company on his countersigning them. It was also…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Deardorff v. ForesmanIndiana Supreme Court · 1865
- Neuendorff v. World Mutual Life InsuranceNew York Court of Appeals · 1877
- Rockford Insurance v. WinfieldSupreme Court of Kansas · 1897