Johnson v. New Amsterdam Cas. Co.
| Decision Date | 07 June 1951 |
| Docket Number | No. 673,673 |
| Parties | , 29 A.L.R.2d 507 JOHNSON, v. NEW AMSTERDAM CASUALTY CO. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Welch Jordan, Greensboro, for plaintiff.
Smith, Sapp, Moore & Smith, Greensboro, for defendant.
The defendant has brought forward numerous exceptions and assignments of error to the findings of fact by the court below. However, there is evidence to support such findings and the exceptions thereto will not be upheld.
Moreover, this appeal turns on the interpretation placed upon the endorsement attached to and made a part of Woodall's policy of insurance.
It is apparent that Woodall applied for a license or permit from the State Corporation Commission of Virginia to operate a truck for hire in Virginia. Such Commission would have no authority to issue a license or permit to be used in interstate commerce. Even so, this would have no bearing on the right of the defendant to issue a policy of insurance on Woodall's truck, which would remain in full force and effect if and when the truck was operated outside the State of Virginia. Utilities Insurance Co. v. Potter, 188 Okla. 145, 105 P.2d 259, 154 A.L.R. 512, certiorari dismissed 312 U.S. 662, 61 S.Ct. 804, 85 L.Ed. 1109; Couk v. Ocean Accident & Guarantee Corp., 138 Ohio St. 110, 33 N.E.2d 9; Utilities Insurance Co. v. Smith, 10 Cir., 129 F.2d 798. There is nothing in the defendant's insurance contract which limits its liability to damages incurred only within that portion of the radius of fifty miles of Martinsville, Virginia, which lies within the State of Virginia.
If by attaching the endorsement set out herein to Woodall's policy of insurance, it was the purpose of the defendant to exclude the State of North Carolina, or that portion of it which lies within a radius of fifty miles of Martinsville, Virginia, as a part of the area in which the truck was customarily used, it did not do so by the language used.
Insurance contracts will be construed according to the meaning of the terms which the parties have used and unless such terms are ambiguous, they will be interpreted according to their usual, ordinary, and commonly accepted meaning. McDowell Motor Co. v. New York Underwriters Insurance Co., 233 N.C. 251, 63 S.E.2d 538; Bailey v. Life Insurance Co., 222 N.C. 716, 24 S.E.2d 614, 166 A.L.R. 826; Stanback v. Winston Mut. Life Insurance Co., 220 N.C. 494, 17 S.E.2d 666; Roberts v. American Alliance Insurance Co., 212 N.C. 1, 192 S.E. 873, 113 A.L.R. 310; Gant v. Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co., 197 N.C. 122, 147 S.E. 740; Powers v. Travelers Insurance Co., 186 N.C. 336, 119 S.E. 481; Crowell v. Maryland Motor Car Insurance Co., 169 N.C. 35, 85 S.E. 37; Penn v. Standard Life & Accident Insurance Co., 158 N.C. 29, 73 S.E. 99, 42 L.R.A., N.S., 593. 'But if they are reasonably susceptible of two interpretations, the one imposing liability, the other excluding it, the former is to be adopted and the latter rejected, because the policies having been prepared by the insurers, or by persons skilled in insurance law and acting in the exclusive interest of the insurance company, it is but meet that such policies should be construed liberally in respect of the persons injured, and strictly against the insurance company. ' Gould Morris Electric Co. v. Atlantic Fire Insurance Co., 229 N.C. 518, 50 S.E.2d 295, 297, and cases cited.
We hold that the language used in the endorsement simply means that the usual, or customary use of the truck, covered by the policy of insurance, was limited to an area within a radius of fifty miles of Martinsville, Virginia, exclusive of the area within cities and towns in North Carolina within that radius. And it is an indisputable fact that Martinsville, Virginia, is located not more than twelve or fifteen miles from the North Carolina State line.
And when the customary or regular use of an insured vehicle is confined during the policy period to the territory within a fifty-mile radius of the limits of the city or town where the motor vehicle is principally garaged, it refers to the principal use, and the coverage is not affected by an occasional use beyond the specified radius. Blashfield's Cyclopedia of Automobile Law and Practice, Vol. 6, Insurance, Sec. 3974.5, p. 687; Appleman's Insurance Law and Practice, Vol. 7, Sec. 4294, p. 61; Kindred v. Pacific Automobile Ins. Co., 10 Cal.2d 463; 75 P.2d 69; Bandy v. East & West Insurance Co., 1942 Mo.App., 163 S.W.2d 350; Car & General Insurance Corp. v. Novodoczky, 101 Ind.App. 509, 200 N.E. 83. Cf. Crowell v. Maryland Motor Car Insurance Co., supra; Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Manson, 94 N.H. 389, 54 A.2d 580; and Birnbaum v. Jamestown Mutual Insurance Co., 298 N.Y. 305, 83 N.E.2d 128.
It is different, however, where it is agreed that the insured motor vehicle is to be operated entirely or...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Wright v. Mercury Ins. Co., 529
...4 Cir., 1951, 192 F.2d 425, 31 A.L.R.2d 295; Virginia Surety Co. v. Wright, D.C., 114 F.Supp. 124. See Johnson v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 234 N.C. 25, 65 S.E.2d 347, 29 A.L.R.2d 507. The judgment of nonsuit entered below Affirmed. JOHNSON, J., not sitting. ...
-
Lineberry v. Security Life & Trust Co.
...40 S.E.2d 198; McDowell Motor Co. v. New York Underwriters Insurance Co., 233 N.C. 251, 63 S.E.2d 538; Johnson v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 234 N.C. 25, 65 S.E.2d 347, 29 A.L.R.2d 507. When the three instruments involved in this litigation are considered in the light of these rules of con......
- Miller's Mut. Fire Ins. Ass'n of Alton, Ill. v. Parker
-
Scarboro v. Pilot Life Ins. Co.
...and commonly accepted meaning. Haneline v. Turner White Casket Co., 238 N.C. 127, 76 S.E.2d 372; Johnson v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 234 N.C. 25, 65 S.E.2d 347, 29 A.L.R.2d 507. It is our duty to construe policies of insurance as written, and not to rewrite them. Ford v. New York Life In......