Barrington Consol. High School v. American Ins. Co.

• Court: Illinois Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: WARD
• Citation: Barrington Consol. High School v. American Ins. Co., 319 N.E.2d 25, 58 Ill.2d 278 (Ill. 1974)
• Decision Date: 17 September 1974
• Docket Number: No. 45967,45967
• Parties: BARRINGTON CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL et al., Appellants, v. The AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Appellees.

Page 25

319 N.E.2d 25

58 Ill.2d 278

BARRINGTON CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL et al., Appellants, v. The AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Appellees.

No. 45967.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Sept. 17, 1974.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 26, 1974.

Allyn J. Franke and Ralph Miller, Franke & Miller, Chicago (Ralph Miller, Chicago, of counsel), for appellants.

Snyder, Clarke, Dalziel, Holmquist & Johnson, Waukegan (Julian Johnson, Waukegan, of counsel), for appellees.

WARD, Justice.

In July 1971 the Barrington Consolidated High School, School District 224 of Barrington, Illinois, and Kathleen Van Ness Lawyer, a former teacher in the school district, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in the circuit court of Lake County under section 57.1 of the Civil Practice Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1973, ch. 110, par. 57.1) against the American Insurance Company and its successor in interest, the Fireman's Fund Insurance Companies, as the public-liability insurers for the plaintiff district and its employees. Nominal defendants in the action were Susan Schafer and her father, Leo Schafer, who earlier had brought a personal injury suit against the plaintiff school district, and Kathleen Van Ness Lawyer. The plaintiffs brought the declaratory judgment action when the insurers refused to defend them in the suit brought by the Schafers. The trial court in the declaratory judgment action held that the insurers had breached the terms of their policy with the plaintiff school district by failing to defend. The appellate court reversed (11 Ill.App.3d 180, 296 N.E.2d 62), and we granted the plaintiffs' petition for leave to appeal.

In January 1965 Susan Schafer, a minor and a student at Barrington Consolidated High School, when participating in a physical education class, jumped over a gymnastic device and injured her leg. Kathleen Lawyer, her physical education teacher, who resigned her employment in June 1965, testified that she had no recollection of the incident. But Susan testified that she spoke to Mrs. Lawyer about her injury and she believed that she later gave the teacher a note from her physician asking that she be excused from further class activity. The note is not in the record; the physician is deceased; and there is no suggestion the note was anything but a request to have Susan excused. At some point thereafter, Susan Schafer testified, she spoke to the school nurse, Mrs. Boehme, who gave her a form to submit to the School's accident and health insurance insurer, the Guarantee Trust Insurance Company.

The only communication between the school and Susan Schafer's parents was through a copy of a letter the parents had addressed to the Lake County superintendent of schools. They had sent copies of the letter to J. S. Gillis, the principal, and to other administrators in the school system. The letter concerned the making of provisions for home-tutoring of Susan beginning in September 1965. It also referred to the parents' dissatisfaction with 'the insurance company.' The Schafers testified that the insurance company they referred to was the Guarantee Trust Insurance Company, the insurer with which they had filed the health and accident insurance form. There was nothing in the letter to suggest that the Schafers considered the plaintiffs liable for the injury to Susan and there is no other indication in the record that they regarded the plaintiffs as responsible, prior to their filing suit against the plaintiffs in February 1969.

Shortly after the filing of suit by the Schafers the school notified Fireman's Fund Companies of the bringing of the action.

On March 24, 1969, the insurer advised the school it would not defend, since notice of the accident of 1965 had not been given 'as soon as practicable,' a term of its policy, and the insurer's ability to defend had therefore been prejudiced.

The policy contained this notice provision:

'10. Notice of Occurrence or Accident. In the event of an occurrence or accident, written notice shall be given by or on behalf of the insured to the Company or any of its authorized agents as soon as practicable. Such notice shall contain particulars sufficient to indentify the insured and also reasonably obtainable information respecting the time, place and circumstances of the accident or occurrence, the names and addresses of the injured and of available witnesses.'

A provision in an insurance liability policy requiring an insured to give the insurer notice of an accident is a reasonable policy requirement, one which affords the insurer...