Scarborough v. World Ins. Co., No. 22
| Docket Nº | No. 22 |
| Citation | 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.2d 558 |
| Case Date | September 26, 1956 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina |
Page 558
V.
WORLD INSURANCE COMPANY.
Jack W. Marer, R. C. Andrews, Omaha, Neb., and Worth & Horner, Elizabeth City, for defendant, appellant.
Wallace R. Gray, and McCown & McCown, Manteo, for plaintiff, appellee.
DEVIN, Justice.
The policy issued to Adrian C. Midgett by the defendant insured against loss of life resulting directly and independently of all other causes from bodily injuries sustained through purely accidental means. It was not controverted that the death of the insured resulted from an altercation with the witness Baldwin. From the testimony of this witness, who was the sole witness to the occurrence offered by the plaintiff, the conclusion seems inescapable that the insured was the aggressor; that he used the language of vituperation and fury and demonstrated an attempt to do violence to the person of the witness; that he advanced with arms raised up the steps of Baldwin's home in such a manner as to put Baldwin in fear, so much so that Baldwin was caused to push him away to protect himself and his home, and then to retreat within doors.
[244 N.C. 505] The policy sued on insured against loss of life resulting from bodily injuries sustained through accidental means. In Fletcher v. Security Life & Trust Co., 220
Page 561
N.C. 148, 16 S.E.2d 687, Barnhill, J., drew the distinction between 'accidental' and 'accidental means' as these terms are used in accident insurance policies, and pointed out that the phrase 'accidental means' refers to the occurrence or happening which produces the result rather than the result. Scott v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 208 N.C. 160, 179 S.E. 434; Kirkley v. Merrimack Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 232 N.C. 292, 59 S.E.2d 629; Ocean Accident & Guarantee Corp. v. Glover, 165 Va. 283, 182 S.E. 221. See also Michie's Jurisprudence, Law of Virginia, Insurance Sec. 128; Vance on Insurance, 569.Where the policy insures against loss of life through accidental means, the principle seems generally upheld that if the death of the insured, although in a sense unforeseen and unexpected, results directly from the insured's voluntary act and aggressive misconduct, or where the insured culpably provokes the act which causes the injury and death, it is not death by accidental means, even though the result may be such as to constitute an accidental injury. 45 C.J.S., Insurance, § 753, p. 779.
Where the insured is the...
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...shot by the occupany of a car who was spotlighting deer, as he approached the car to investigate. In Scarborough v. World Insurance Co., 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.2d 558 (1956), the policy insured against loss of life from bodily injuries 'through purely accidental means'. No exclusion appears. ......
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Mills v. State Life & Health Ins. Co., No. 316
...v. Insurance Co., 247 N.C. 72, 75, 100 S.E.2d 214. [261 N.C. 550] In Clay v. Insurance Co., supra, Scarborough v. World Insurance Co., 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.id 558, and Gray v. State Capital Insurance Co., 254 N.C. 286, 118 S.E.2d 909, decision was based on the legal principle stated in Scar......
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State v. Smyth, No. 78-96-C
...the aggressor committing the intentional act unlike the victim has not been involved in an accident. Scarborough v. World Insurance Co., 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.2d 558 (1956). Likewise, we have held that the term "accident" in an automobile tort action includes negligent as well as f......
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Gray v. State Capital Life Ins. Co., No. 161
...under circumstances that would render a homicide likely as the result of his own misconduct.' In Scarborough v. World Insurance Co., 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.2d 558, 561, the insured, Adrian C. Midgett, advanced upon one Baldwin, using vituperative language, and continued to advance as if he in......
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Bone v. Charlotte Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., No. 7118DC21
...shot by the occupany of a car who was spotlighting deer, as he approached the car to investigate. In Scarborough v. World Insurance Co., 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.2d 558 (1956), the policy insured against loss of life from bodily injuries 'through purely accidental means'. No exclusion appears. ......
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Mills v. State Life & Health Ins. Co., No. 316
...v. Insurance Co., 247 N.C. 72, 75, 100 S.E.2d 214. [261 N.C. 550] In Clay v. Insurance Co., supra, Scarborough v. World Insurance Co., 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.id 558, and Gray v. State Capital Insurance Co., 254 N.C. 286, 118 S.E.2d 909, decision was based on the legal principle stated in Scar......
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State v. Smyth, No. 78-96-C
...the aggressor committing the intentional act unlike the victim has not been involved in an accident. Scarborough v. World Insurance Co., 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.2d 558 (1956). Likewise, we have held that the term "accident" in an automobile tort action includes negligent as well as f......
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Gray v. State Capital Life Ins. Co., No. 161
...under circumstances that would render a homicide likely as the result of his own misconduct.' In Scarborough v. World Insurance Co., 244 N.C. 502, 94 S.E.2d 558, 561, the insured, Adrian C. Midgett, advanced upon one Baldwin, using vituperative language, and continued to advance as if he in......