Powers v. Travelers' Ins. Co
Decision Date | 31 October 1923 |
Docket Number | (No. 284.) |
Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Parties | Powers. v. TRAVELERS' INS. CO. |
Appeal from Superior Court, Pender County; Allen, Judge.
Action by P. P. Powers, administrator of A. K. Powers, deceased, against the Travelers' Insurance Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Error.
The plaintiff's intestate, a resident of San-ford, Pla., purchased the policy in question on June 14, 1920. He came to his mother's home in Pender county the next day, and was killed on June 19. Wearing a white suit and a Panama hat, he left the house and walked out in the direction of the barn between 9 and 10 o'clock at night, and was shot by some one whom he did not recognize. He was carried into the house and said:
It is admitted that the sole cause of his death was the gunshot wound.
The following are the material parts of the policy:
The plaintiff sued to recover $2,500 for the death of the insured, and it was admitted that, if entitled to recover, he is entitled to this amount.
The verdict was as follows:
(1) Did plaintiff's intestate come to his death from injury inflicted by the use of firearms? A. Yes.
(2) Did plaintiff's intestate receive a fatal injury intentionally inflicted by some person unknown, while sane or insane? A. No.
The first issue was answered by consent. The defendant moved for judgment upon the verdict. Denied. Exception. Judgment. Exception. Appeal by defendant.
Rountree & Carr, of Wilmington, for appellant.
Stevens, Beasley & Stevens, of Warsaw, for appellee.
ADAMS, J. [1] The defendant's motion for judgment upon the verdict should have been allowed. The first issue was answered by consent; and the contract insured the intestate against bodily injuries effected solely by external, violent, and accidental means as therein set out, subject to specific conditions and limitations. Among these limitations is this: That the insurance should not cover death resulting wholly or partly from several designated agencies, one of which is "firearms."
The insured and the defendant had the legal right to enter into the contract, and the parties are bound by its terms.
"In the absence of statutory provisions to the contrary, insurance companies have the sameright as individuals to limit their liability and to impose whatever conditions they please upon their obligations, not inconsistent with public policy; and the courts have no right to add anything to their contract or to take anything from them." 14 R. C. L. 931; Roeh v. Protective Ass'n, 164 Iowa, 199, 145 N. W. 479, 51 L. R. A. (N. S.) 221, Ann. Cas. 1915C, 813; Lewis v. Accident Co., 194 Mass. 1, 79 N. E. 802, 17 L. R. A. (N. S.) 714; Penn v. Ins. Co., 158 N. C. 29, 73 S. E. 99, 42 L. R. A. (N. S.) 593; Id., 160 N. C. 400, 76 S. E. 262, 42 L. R. A. (N. S.) 597.
In the case last cited Walker, J., said:
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