Nichols v. Fayette Mutual Fire Insurance
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract on two policies of insurance dated September 19, 1857. The first policy insured the plaintiffs in the sum of $600 on their shop and dwelling-house in Methuen; and the second in the sum of $1,000 on their dwelling-house in the same town. The plaintiffs claimed for a total loss, and the fact of the loss within the time covered by the policy was not denied; but it was denied that the plaintiffs had any insurable interest in any part of the property described.
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Contract on two policies of insurance dated September 19, 1857. The first policy insured the plaintiffs in the sum of $600 on their shop and dwelling-house in Methuen; and the second in the sum of $1,000 on their dwelling-house in the same town. The plaintiffs claimed for a total loss, and the fact of the loss within the time covered by the policy was not denied; but it was denied that the plaintiffs had any insurable interest in any part of the property described. At the trial in this court the plaintiffs introduced in evidence the two policies and applications, and there rested, claiming…
1Opinion of the CourtChapman, J.
At the trial of the cause the presiding judge ruled that the plaintiffs had made a prima facie case, though they had offered no evidence of their title to the property insured. This ruling is objected to. It became immaterial, because the title appeared in the course of the trial by undisputed evidence. But the court are of opinion that in mutual insurance the representations of the assured, in respect to the title, stand upon the same ground with other representations. The policy may be avoided by proving their falsehood in any material part; but the legal presumption is that they are true.…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Bardstown & Louisville Railroad v. MetcalfeCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1862
- Fowler v. New York Indemnity InsuranceNew York Supreme Court · 1856
3Cited by1 opinion
- Humble v. German Alliance InsuranceSupreme Court of Kansas · 1911