(Download) "Richardson v. Travelers' Fire Ins. Co. Et" by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Richardson v. Travelers' Fire Ins. Co. Et
- Author : Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 28, 1934
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 70 KB
Description
DONAHUE, Justice. The twelve insurance companies named as defendants issued to the plaintiff policies of insurance in standard form in the aggregate amount of $55,000 on his property, which was damaged by fire on January 18, 1931, to the extent of $30,000. Each policy was payable in case of loss to a mortgagee and provided that 'whenever this company shall be liable to a mortgagee for any sum for loss under this policy for which no liability exists as to the mortgagor or owner and this company shall elect by itself or with others to pay the mortgagee the full amount secured by such mortgage, then the mortgagee shall assign and transfer to the companies interested upon such payment the said mortgage together with a note and debt thereby secured.' The bill alleges that the defendant companies purporting to act but not in good faith acting under the foregoing provision have paid the mortgagee the amount of its debt and received an assignment of the mortgage and mortgage note in the name of one Cole, who is also a defendant, for the use and benefit of the companies. One of the prayers of the bill is that a decree be entered that there is due and payable to the plaintiff $30,000 for the loss sustained by him 'in proportion to the amount of insurance carried by each of said defendant companies.' Another prayer asks that upon payment by the plaintiff to the companies of the amount by which the mortgage debt exceeded $30,000 the defendant Cole be ordered to deliver up the mortgage and the mortgage note the discharge the mortgage. The following issue was framed and submitted to a jury: 'Is there any liability on the part of the defendants to the plaintiff by reason of a fire on the plaintiff's premises on January 18, 1931?' To this the jury returned the answer 'No.' The plaintiff took exception to the failure of the Judge in the superior court on motion to direct the jury to answer this issue in the affirmative. The bill of exceptions states: 'It was stipulated that if the defendants were liable at all, the verdict should be in the sum of $30,000. No issue was raised by the defendants as to the plaintiff having complied with the conditions precedent to bringing suit under the policies, or that the policies were in effect at the time of the fire. The sole issue for the jury was whether the plaintiff was so directly or indirectly responsible for the fire as to avoid liability under the policies. The plaintiff agreed that the fire was of incendiary origin.' The burden was on the defendants to prove that the fire was set or was caused to be set by the plaintiff. The proof did not need to be beyond a reasonable doubt as is necessary where such a contention is made against a defendant in a criminal case; it was here sufficient if the proof was by the fair preponderance of the evidence. Schmidt v. New York Union Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 1 Gray, 529. There was no direct evidence that the plaintiff set the fire or that he procured some one else to set it. The evidence was voluminous and much of it conflicting. Where conflicting, since the jury returned a negative answer to the question submitted, the version most favorable to the defendant must be here taken. The substantial question for decision is whether the evidence, so viewed, by reasonable inference from facts which might have been found, warranted the Conclusion by the jury that it was proven by a fair preponderance of the evidence either that the plaintiff set the fire or that he procured its setting by some one else.
 "Richardson v. Travelers' Fire Ins. Co. Et" by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}