The Travelers Indemnity Company v. B. N. Holman, Mary Alice Coombs

JOHN R. BROWN, Circuit Judge.

The real question in this case is whether an insurance company has some special kind of immunity from legal liability for express commitments made by its direct employee acting strictly in accordance with his authority. We hold that no such immunity exists.

The problem takes this form largely because of judicial utterances frequently made- — certainly often enough for us to say that the Texas-Erie signal comes in clear — that insurance coverage, as distinguished from forfeiture, may not be extended by implication from conduct or action which might otherwise…