Insurance Co. v. Bailey
Supreme Court of the United States
Appeal from the Supreme Court of the District. The Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company filed a bill against Mrs. Elizabeth Bailey, widow of Albert Bailey, to compel the cancellation of two policies of insurance issued by that company upon the life of the said Albert, on the 12th of June and 15th of July, 1867, respectively.
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Appeal from the Supreme Court of the District. The Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company filed a bill against Mrs. Elizabeth Bailey, widow of Albert Bailey, to compel the cancellation of two policies of insurance issued by that company upon the life of the said Albert, on the 12th of June and 15th of July, 1867, respectively. The grouuds of the bill were that the policies had been procured by the defendant by fraudulent suppression of certain material facts, and the misrepresentation of other ones of the same class. The answer denied the allegations made. Evidence was given tending to show…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Clifford
Policies of life insurance are governed, in some respects, by different rules of construction from those applied by the courts in case of policies- against marine risks or policies against loss by fire.
Marine and fire policies are contracts of indemnity', by which the claim of the insured is commensurate with the damages he sustained by the loss of, or injury to, the prop erty insured. Such being the nature of the contract, it is clear that an absolute sale of the property insured, prior to the alleged disaster, is a good defence to an action on the policy, as the insured cannot justly claim…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Boyce's Executors v. GrundySupreme Court of the United States · 1830
- Parker v. Winnipiseogee Lake Cotton & Woollen Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1863
- Rawls v. . American Mutual Life Insurance CompanyNew York Court of Appeals · 1863
3Cited by191 opinions
- Beacon Theatres, Inc. v. WestoverSupreme Court of the United States · 1959
- Enelow v. New York Life InsuranceSupreme Court of the United States · 1935
- Walla Walla City v. Walla Walla Water Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1898
- Schoenthal v. Irving Trust Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1932
- Boise Artesian Hot & Cold Water Co. v. Boise CitySupreme Court of the United States · 1909
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