(DOWNLOAD) "Lee v. Providence Washington Ins. Co." by Supreme Court of Montana ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Lee v. Providence Washington Ins. Co.
- Author : Supreme Court of Montana
- Release Date : January 20, 1928
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 70 KB
Description
Submitted April 4, 1928. Fire Insurance — Arbitration and Award — Misconduct of Appraisers — Function of Court of Equity. Fire Insurance — Arbitration Favored by Law — When Award Conclusive. 1. The policy of the law is to favor the settlement of disputes by arbitration and every reasonable intendment will be indulged to give effect to such proceedings; if the proceedings were honestly and fairly conducted, i.e., if the award was not the result of fraud, or mistake of fact of law so gross and palpable as to be evidence of misconduct or undue partiality on part of the arbitrators, or their misfeasance (wrongful exercise of their authority) or malfeasance (the doing of an act which is positively unlawful or wrongful), a court of equity will not interfere with their judgment. Same — Arbitration — When Award may be Set Aside. 2. Where arbitrators appointed under the provisions of a fire insurance policy to ascertain the loss sustained by the insured, fix the amount arbitrarily, without basis of fact and without knowledge or information of the subject under consideration, to the substantial injury of the insured, they are guilty of misconduct, or misfeasance, for which the award may be set aside, even though there may be an entire absence of improper motive on their part. Same — Measure of Indemnity. 3. Indemnity is the basis or foundation of fire insurance law; unless there is a valuation given in the policy, the measure of indemnity is the expense, at the time the loss is payable, of replacing the thing insured or destroyed, in the condition in which it was at the time of the fire, not in excess of the amount specified in the policy. Same. 4. Where a fire insurance policy provides that the insurer insures the owner of the property insured ""to the extent of the cash value"" of the property, the measure of recovery by the insured is the actual value of the property in the condition it was in at the time of the loss, taking into consideration its age and then condition and allowing for the difference arising from deterioration. Same — Arbitration — Arbitrary Award — Court of Equity may Inquire into Method of Arriving at Conclusion. 5. Where the complaint in an action to set aside the award of appraisers respecting loss sustained by fire partially destroying the insured building alleged that they had arbitrarily made certain deductions from the amount found due, etc., the court could properly inquire into the method by which the appraisers arrived at their decision. Same — Arbitration — When Only Courts Should Interfere With Award Made. 6. It is not every error or mistake of law or of fact which will warrant a court in setting aside an award made by appraisers selected by parties to a controversy such as the adjustment of loss sustained by fire insured against; they should interfere only to prevent manifest injustice. Same — Arbitration — What Constitutes Misconduct on Part of Appraisers. 7. Where appraisers selected by a fire insurance company and one who sustained loss by fire to ascertain the actual cash value of the property at the time of the fire, after deducting a certain amount for physical deterioration from the figure arrived at, made a further deduction of ten per cent for ""commercial depreciation"" without hearing testimony as to such depreciation and without knowledge or information on the subject, their action was arbitrary in that respect and amounted to misconduct (see par. 2 above) warranting setting aside of their award.
 "Lee v. Providence Washington Ins. Co." by Supreme Court of Montana ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}