Aetna Ins. Co. v. King
| Decision Date | 24 August 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. P--359,P--359 |
| Citation | 265 So.2d 716 |
| Parties | AETNA INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign corporation, Appellant, v. Leste M. KING, also known as Mrs. Fred W. King, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Ernest W. Welch, of Isler, Welch, Bryant, Smith, Higby & Brown, Panama City, for appellant.
James A. Johnston, of Fitzgerald & Johnston, Pensacola, for appellee.
Appellant, Aetna Insurance Company, appeals from a final judgment of $13,083.39 1 which was awarded to appellee, Mrs. Leste King, for losses she sustained when a building and its contents insured by Aetna were destroyed by fire. The decisive question on this appeal is whether at the time of the fire Mrs. King had an insurable interest in the destroyed building and its contents.
Prior to October of 1964 Mrs. King and her husband were owners in fee simple 2 of real property in Sneads, Florida, upon which was located a concrete block building in which the Kings operated a grocery store. During the early months of 1964 Mr. and Mrs. King were both in a declining state of health which prohibited them from devoting the necessary attention to their grocery business. On October 12, 1964, Mr. and Mrs. King conveyed the real property in fee simple to their daughters, Freida K. Nichols and Gay K. Kinard.
For the next several years the daughters and their husbands cared for the Kings and helped run the grocery store. The proceeds from the store were placed in a special bank account and expended to meet the needs of the Kings.
On February 22, 1967, Aetna issued to Mrs. King 3 a policy insuring her against any loss she might sustain from the destruction of the building and its contents by fire. 4 On June 28, 1967, Gay K. Kinard, joined by her husband, quitclaimed her interest in the real property to Freida and Colie Nichols, Jr. On this same day the Nichols and Kinards entered into a written 'Memorandum of Understanding' to the accord that all proceeds from the property would be used for the care and support of Mrs. King. The Nichols leased the store and placed the rent proceeds in a special account for Mrs. King. During this period of time Mrs. King repeatedly required hospitalization in addition to her everyday care. Her needs were provided for by proceeds from the store building. On December 29, 1967, the store building and all of its contents were destroyed by fire. Aetna denied Mrs. King's claim for loss on the grounds that at the time of the fire Mrs. King did not have an insurable interest in the store and its contents.
The public policy of this state renders an insurance policy invalid when the insured has no insurable interest in the property or The risk insured on the grounds that same constitutes a wagering contract. 5 In Florida the Legislature has established that an insurable interest is '. . . any Actual, lawful, and Substantial economic interest in the safety or preservation of the subject of the insurance free from loss, destruction, or pecuniary damage or impairment.' 6 (Emphasis added.) The measure of the insurable interest is the extent to which the insured will be damnified by the loss of the property. 7
Aetna contends that Mrs. King had no insurable interest in the property as she held neither 'legal' nor 'equitable' 8 title to the store and its contents. In Florida an 'insurable interest' is not determined by the concept of title, but rather whether the insured has a substantial economic interest in the property. 9
Our sister state of Virginia in a case strikingly similar to this cause held that a divorcee had an insurable interest in a building owned by her former father-in-law in which she conducted a general merchandise business in order to support herself and her children. 10 The following remarks from the Virginia decision are particularly applicable:
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In re Johnson
...have awarded recovery amounts based on the loss suffered due to damage to the property. For example, in Aetna Insurance Co. v. King, 265 So.2d 716, 717 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1972) the court awarded the amount for losses due to the destruction by fire of a grocery store building and its contents.......
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Miller v. New Jersey Ins. Underwriting Ass'n
...in Miller. Plaintiffs are entitled to present proof of the value of their interests at a plenary hearing. See Aetna Ins. Co. v. King, 265 So.2d 716 (Fla.Ct.App.1972) (former owner who received livelihood from proceeds earned by daughter from operating grocery store had insurable interest in......
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Gossett v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Washington
...not destroy insurable interest; as long as plaintiff was legally liable for purchase price, he had insurable interest); Aetna Ins. Co. v. King, 265 So.2d 716, 718 (1972) (insurable interest is not determined by concept of title, but by whether insured has substantial economic interest in th......
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Overton v. Progressive Ins. Co.
...be damnified by loss, injury, or impairment" of the vehicle. Section 627.405(3), Florida Statutes (1982); see Aetna Insurance Co. v. King, 265 So.2d 716 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972). As a general principle, a wife who has a pecuniary or beneficial interest in her husband's property, or would have so......