Collins v. Delaware Insurance
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 41, Oct. T., 1898, by defendant, from judgment of C. P. Delaware Co., Dec. T., 1897, No. 191, on verdict for plaintiff. Assumpsit.
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Appeal, No. 41, Oct. T., 1898, by defendant, from judgment of C. P. Delaware Co., Dec. T., 1897, No. 191, on verdict for plaintiff. Assumpsit. Before Clayton, P. J. It appears from the record and evidence that plaintiff claimed under a policy of $2,000 against loss or damage by fire, a loss resulting to goods in a dwelling house to the amount of $882.75. It appeared that the damages sustained by plaintiff were caused by heavy smoke and soot from a coal oil stove used for heating his parlor, in which it was alleged that the oil took fire when no one was in the room, and that the injury…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Rice, P. J.,
The plaintiff’s goods were not burned but were damaged by smoke and soot; but it is well settled that a policy against “ direct loss or damage by fire ” may cover loss other than by actual burning, such as by water used to extinguish the fire, and by smoke from the fire. If, however, the fire itself be not insured *579against, as it ordinarily is not when it is kept within the place that is fitted and intended for it, there is no liability for such consequences as the escaping of smoke or gas.
We cannot do better than to adopt the illustrations used in a well-considered…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Lynn Gas & Electric Co. v. Meriden Fire InsuranceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1893
- Way v. Abington Mutual Fire InsuranceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1896
- American Towing Co. v. German Fire InsuranceCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1891
- Gibbons v. German Insurance & Savings InstitutionAppellate Court of Illinois · 1889
- Scripture v. Lowell Mutual Fire InsuranceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1852
3Cited by2 opinions
- Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. ArmstrongSupreme Court of Alabama · 1929
- Mitchell v. Globe & Republic Insurance Co. of AmericaSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1942