Haff v. Marine Insurance
New York Supreme Court
Assumpsit, on a policy of insurance on the schooner Lucy. The policy contained the following clause, “ That if the vessel, upon a regular survey, should be declared unseaworthy, by reason of her being unsound or rotten, or incapable of prosecuting her voyage on account of her being unsound or rotten, then the assurer should not be bound, &c.”
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Assumpsit, on a policy of insurance on the schooner Lucy. The policy contained the following clause, “ That if the vessel, upon a regular survey, should be declared unseaworthy, by reason of her being unsound or rotten, or incapable of prosecuting her voyage on account of her being unsound or rotten, then the assurer should not be bound, &c.” The vessel, after encountering heavy weather, was condemned at one of her intermediate ports as unseaworthy, and thereupon abandoned by plaintiffs. To show that preliminary pyoof of loss had been duly made to the defendants, the plaintiff offered a…
1Opinion of the CourtVan Ness, J.
This testimony is certainly not sufficient. Admitting the person with whom the plaintiff conversed, in the directors’ chamber, to have been a director, his expressions show that the company were dissatisfied with the papers exhibited, and required other documents. Whether they had a right to demand the survey, is a question which cannot now be decided.
In all cases, it is sufficient to exhibit such proof of loss as ought to convince a reasonable man. The witness is ignorant of the contents of the papers, exhibited to the company. We, therefore, cannot decide whether, or not, these papers,…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Haff v. Marine InsuranceNew York Supreme Court · 1809