Columbia Casualty Company v. Wright

• Decision Date: 09 July 1956
• Docket Number: No. 7205.,7205.
• Citation: Columbia Casualty Company v. Wright, 235 F.2d 462, 63 A.L.R.2d 564 (4th Cir. 1956)
• Parties: COLUMBIA CASUALTY COMPANY, a Corporation, Appellant, v. Bobby R. WRIGHT and Deloris Anna Young, an infant who sues by Ida Young, her mother and next friend, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

235 F.2d 462 (1956)

COLUMBIA CASUALTY COMPANY, a Corporation, Appellant, v. Bobby R. WRIGHT and Deloris Anna Young, an infant who sues by Ida Young, her mother and next friend, Appellees.

No. 7205.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued June 14, 1956.

Decided July 9, 1956.

Stanley C. Higgins, Jr., Fayetteville, W. Va. (Mahan, White & Higgins, Fayetteville, W. Va., on brief), for appellant.

R. J. Thrift, Jr., Fayetteville, W. Va. (John H. McCutcheon, Summersville, W. Va., on brief), for appellees.

Before PARKER, Chief Judge, and BARKSDALE and BRYAN, District Judges.

BARKSDALE, District Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment entered by the District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in the consolidation of two cases submitted to the court for decision without a jury on an agreed statement of facts. So far as pertinent, the facts are as follows:

Columbia Casualty Company (hereinafter called the "Company") through its agent in Utah, issued to Charles Willis, Jr., (hereinafter called the "insured") an automobile liability insurance policy for a policy period commencing at 12:01 A.M., on December 28, 1954, and ending at 12:01 A.M., on December 28, 1955. Charles Willis, Jr., was then and until his death on February 4, 1955, a member of the United States Air Force. The address of the said Charles Willis, Jr., at the time of the issuance of said policy and as shown thereon, was 764th Bomb. Sqdn., Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The address of Willis shown in said policy was never changed on the face of the policy. Insofar as the insuring agreements are concerned, the policy was in the usual form and contained a limit of liability to each person injured by reason of the operation of the automobile therein described of Five Thousand Dollars.

At his own request, Charles Willis, Jr., was transferred from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to Langley Field, Virginia. By an official order of the United States Air Force, dated January 11, 1955, Willis was released as of that date from assignment with the 764th Bomber Squadron at Hill Air Force Base and was ordered to report for duty with 405th Fighter Bomber Wing, Tactical Air Command, at Langley Air Force Base on February 18, 1955. Further by said order, on January 21, 1955, Willis was to be dropped from the rolls of the Hill Air Force Base and placed on the rolls at Langley Air Force Base as of that date. Willis left Utah on or about January 11, 1955, but, by reason of his death, did not report to Langley Air Force Base on February 18, 1955, or at any time prior thereto.

Said policy of insurance contained the following provisions with respect to cancellation:

"This policy may be cancelled by the named insured by mailing to the company written notice stating when thereafter such cancellation shall be effective. This policy may be cancelled by the company by mailing to the named insured at the address shown in this policy, written notice stating when, not less than five days thereafter such cancellation shall be effective. The mailing of notice as aforesaid shall be sufficient proof of notice and the effective date and hour of cancellation stated in the notice shall become the end of the policy period. Delivery of such written notice, either by the named insured or by the company, shall be equivalent to mailing."

On January 21, 1955, the appellant's agent in Utah received information from United States Air Force personnel at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, that Charles Willis, Jr., had been so transferred to 405th Ftr. Bmr. Wg., TAC, Langley AFB, Virginia, for duty, which, after January 21, 1955, would be the official address of said Willis. Appellant's agent was not advised of the date upon which said Willis was required to report to Langley Field, Virginia.

On January 25, 1955, the insurance company, by its General Agent in Salt Lake City, Utah, mailed to Willis, addressed to him at 405th Ftr. Bmr. Wg., TAC, Langley AFB, Virginia, by registered United States mail, return receipt requested, a notice that said policy of insurance was cancelled to take effect on the 3rd day of February, 1955, at 12:01 o'clock A.M., Standard Time in the State of Utah. This notice, mailed on January 25, 1955, at Salt Lake City, Utah, was received at Langley Air Force Base Station, Hampton, Virginia, on January 28, 1955 and was returned undelivered to Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 11, 1955. By reason of the death of Charles Willis, Jr., on February 4, 1955, the notice of cancellation was never delivered to him.

It is to be noted that insured's transfer order provided that on January 21, 1955, his name was to be dropped from the rolls at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and placed on the rolls at Langley Field in Virginia. But there was also a provision in the same order that insured was not required to report at Langley Field until February 18, 1955. This, the Company did not know, but it would seem that the information was available to it. The result is, that although the insured's name was to be placed on the rolls at Langley Field on January 21, 1955, Langley Field would not actually become his present address until February 18, 1955, fifteen days after the effective date of the cancellation set out in the Company's notice of cancellation. It is also to be noted that "the address shown in this policy" was never changed, and that no change of address was ever requested by the insured.

On February 4, 1955, in the State of West Virginia, Charles Willis, Jr., while driving the automobile described in the insurance policy, was involved in an automobile accident as a result of which the appellees, who were riding with him, were injured. Willis was killed in the same accident. The appellees recovered judgments against the administrator of the estate of Willis for their injuries, in a West Virginia State Court. Being unable to collect these judgments from the administrator of the estate of Willis, the appellees brought their actions in the Court below against the insurance company seeking recovery upon their unpaid judgments, basing their action upon the policy of insurance issued to Willis.

The insurance company denied payment and defended on the ground that...