Kirkley v. Merrimack Mut. Fire Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 09 June 1950 |
| Docket Number | No. 524,524 |
| Citation | 232 N.C. 292,59 S.E.2d 629 |
| Parties | KIRKLEY, v. MERRIMACK MUT. FIRE INS. CO. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Jones & Small, Charlotte, for plaintiff.
Smathers & Carpenter, Charlotte, for defendant.
Does damage to the wooden frame of the plaintiff's station wagon caused by woodboring insects, entering at an unknown time and in an unknown manner and remaining therein for an unknown period, constitute direct and accidental damage or loss, as contemplated under the provisions of the comprehensive loss or damage clause of the automobile insurance policy issued to the plaintiff by the defendant? This question in our opinion must be answered in the negative.
The so-called comprehensive coverage policy is written for the purpose of including all property damages to an automobile resulting from 'direct and accidental loss of or damage to such automobile except loss caused by collision * * *. ' Even so, in our opinion, the loss complained of in this action is not 'accidental' within the meaning of the provisions of the policy, although the loss sustained may be traceable to the infestation of the wooden portions of the body of the plaintiff's station wagon by some kind of wood-boring beetle.
The mere fact that an occurance is infrequent or unusual or even unexpected, does not necessarily make it an accident within the meaning of a casualty insurance policy. It is the general rule to construe such policies strictly against the insurer when the provisions therein are ambiguous, but like any other contract the intention of the contracting parties must be gathered from the instrument itself. Crowell v. Maryland Motor Car Ins. Co., 169 N.C. 35, 85 S.E. 37, Ann.Cas.1917D, 50; McCain v. Hartford Live Stock Ins. Co., 190 N.C. 549, 130 S.E. 186; Jolley v. Jefferson Standard Life Ins. Co., 199 N.C. 269, 154 S.E. 400; Woodell v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 214 N.C. 496, 199 S.E. 719; Stanback v. Winston Mut. Life Ins. Co., 220 N.C. 494, 17 S.E.2d 666; Bailey v. Life Ins. Co. of Virginia, 222 N.C. 716, 24 S.E.2d 614, 166 A.L.R. 826.
'Accidental' means, in common speech, that which is unintended, unexpected, unforeseen and fortuitous, or, to put it another way, an accident in its ordinary sense is an event caused by some casualty, disaster, chance, mishap, misadventure, or hazard. It is defined in Black's Law Dictionary, 3d Ed., p. 23, as 'an unforseen event, occurring without the will or design of the person whose mere act caused it; an unexpected, unusual, or undesigned occurrence; the effect of an unknown cause, or, the cause being known an unprecedented consequence of it; a casualty. ' See also North American Accident Ins. Co. v. Henderson, 180 Miss. 395, 177 So. 528; New York Life Ins. Co. v. Wood, 182 Miss. 233, 190 So. 819; Stuart v. Occidental Life Ins. Co., 156 Ore. 522, 68 P.2d 1037; U. S. Mutual Accident Ass'n v. Barry, ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
McDowell Motor Co. v. New York Underwriters Ins. Co.
...used in the policy is the polar star that must guide the courts in the interpretation of such instruments. Kirkley v. Merrimac Mut. Fire Insurance Co., 232 N.C. 292, 59 S.E.2d 629; Gould Morris Electric Co. v. Atlantic Fire Insurance Co., supra; Bailey v. Life Insurance Co., 222 N.C. 716, 2......
-
Wachovia Bank & Trust Co. v. Westchester Fire Ins. Co.
...by the parties when the policy was issued. Motor Co. v. New York Underwriters Insurance Co., supra; Kirkley v. Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 232 N.C. 292, 59 S.E.2d 629. When the policy contains a definition of a term used in it, this is the meaning which must be given to that term w......
-
Avis v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co.
...or without deliberate intention.' Webster's Third New International Dictionary, p. 895 (1961). See also, Kirkley v. Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 232 N.C. 292, 59 S.E.2d 629; Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 3rd Ed., p. 492 (1969); Black's Law Dictionary, 4th Ed., p. 783 (1968). A fo......
-
Morton v. Blue Ridge Ins. Co.
...to as 'an unexplained occurrence' was an accident within the meaning of that term as defined by this Court in Kirkley v. Merrimack Fire Insurance Co., 232 N.C. 292, 59 S.E.2d 629. In St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. American Compounding Co., 211 Ala. 593, 100 So. 904, 906, 35 A.L.R. 1018,......