Maryland Casualty Co. v. Sammons
| Citation | 99 F.2d 323 |
| Decision Date | 03 November 1938 |
| Docket Number | No. 8876.,8876. |
| Parties | MARYLAND CASUALTY CO. v. SAMMONS et al. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
Jos. W. Popper, of Macon, Ga., for appellant.
C. L. Shepard, of Fort Valley, Ga., and Walter A. Harris and John B. Harris, both of Macon, Ga., for appellees.
Before HUTCHESON, HOLMES, and McCORD, Circuit Judges.
Maryland Casualty Company, appellant and cross-appellee, issued its policy of automobile liability insurance to Jack L. Sammons covering his automobile. On November 7, 1937, and while the policy of insurance was in force and effect Jack L. Sammons and John R. Crandall, appellees and cross-appellants, with three others, were riding in the automobile about six o'clock in the evening. Sammons was driving his car and Crandall, as his guest, was sitting on the back seat when the car collided with the rear end of another automobile. Crandall was thrown forward and upward by the impact and his head hit the top of the car and he was momentarily made unconscious or dazed. The skin on Crandall's head was not broken and no blood appeared. Immediately after the accident Crandall returned to his apartment. He complained of a headache and he took aspirin and bathed his head.
Sammons and Crandall roomed together, and when Sammons returned to the apartment about eleven o'clock that same night he found Crandall asleep. On the next day Crandall returned to his work and had no more trouble until about Christmas when his eye began to hurt him. After close observation by an eye specialist it was determined that he had a serious eye injury, the cause of which was traced back to the bump he received on his head the previous November. Crandall, for the first time, immediately notified Sammons. This was on January 13, 1938, and on January 15, Sammons notified the company of the accident. The company denied liability under its policy.
On February 15, 1938, Crandall filed suit against Sammons in the City Court of Macon, Georgia, claiming twenty-five thousand dollars damages. Sammons again notified the company and it again denied liability for the reason, it alleged, that Sammons failed to give notice of the accident "as soon as practicable" as required by the policy. While this suit was pending the appellant Company petitioned the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia praying for a declaratory judgment. The court sanctioned the petition as a bill for declaratory judgment, and also restrained the defendants, appellees and cross-appellants, from proceeding further with the action for damages in the City Court of Macon. This case was heard before a jury and there was admitted in evidence the facts and circumstances of the accident, and of the question of proper notice to the company. The appellant company moved for a directed verdict. The court refused to direct a verdict for the company and the jury found the issues for the defendants, appellees and cross-appellants. From this finding and decree of the court the Maryland Casualty Company appealed.
Casting away the immaterial, the main questions raised by this appeal are: (1) Whether or not notice was given the company in accordance with the provisions of the policy; and (2) whether or not the court erred in its instruction to the jury upon the question as to notice to the company "as soon as practicable."
The construction of the clause of the insurance policy upon which decision of this case must turn is as follows: ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Young v. Travelers Ins. Co.
...the injured and of available witnesses." 2 National Paper Co. v. Ætna Life Ins. Co., 170 Mo.App. 361, 156 S.W. 740; Maryland Casualty Co. v. Sammons, 5 Cir., 99 F.2d 323; Southern Surety Co. v. Heyburn, 234 Ky. 739, 29 S.W.2d 6; Ætna Life Ins. Co. v. Walley, 174 Miss. 365, 164 So. 16; Downi......
-
Lennon v. American Farmers Mut. Ins. Co.
...States Casualty Co., 90 Wash. 687, 156 P. 861; Fireman's Fund Indemnity Co. v. Kennedy, 9 Cir., 97 F.2d 882, 889; Maryland Casualty Co. v. Sammons, 5 Cir., 99 F.2d 323, 325, certiorari denied 306 U.S. 633, 59 S.Ct. 463, 83 L.Ed. 1035. Where the facts are undisputed and only one conclusion i......
-
Evanston Ins. Co. v. Stonewall Surplus Lines Ins. Co.
...to that time. We disagree. Whether notice is timely is ordinarily a question of fact for the jury to determine. Maryland Cas. Co. v. Sammons, 99 F.2d 323 (5th Cir.1938). However, where the facts as asserted by the insured are such that, if established, there could be no recovery, or where t......
-
EMPLOYERS'LIABILITY ASSUR. CORPORATION v. Ryan
...reasoning of Etna Casualty and Surety Co. v. Quarles, supra. The later cases support the rationale of our decision. Maryland Casualty Co. v. Sammons, 5 Cir., 99 F.2d 323; Myers v. Ocean Accident & Guarantee Corp., 4 Cir., 99 F.2d 485 (dealing with Ohio law here involved); Maryland Casualty ......