The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-26 00:00:00

THE PBOTESTA r FIRE AND LIFE IN-
SURANCE COMPANY v. BEAUgONT.

(Before Mr. Baron Alderson and a special jury.)
KINGSTON, Meilen 25.—This was an• action .brought
to recover from the defendant, 'who is the 10"agint-r
director of the County Fire Office, the sum of 2,300/.
upon two- policies of fire insurance for the respective
,ctins of 1,300/. and 1,0001., effected in the Protestant
office, and which, it was alleged, the defendant was
bound to pay under an agreement made between the
parties.
The defendant, among a number of other pleas put
upon the record, pleaded that no such agreement as the
one specified wa-i ever made, -and . also that the plain.
tiffs had been guilty of fraud in the transaction.
Mr. Bovill, Q.C., and Mr. lioneyman were counsel
for the plaintiffs. ,

Mr. E. Jame@, .qc., Mr. Lush, and Mr. Ilawkins
were for the defendant.

It, appeared from the speech of Mr. Bovill, that. the Pro-
testant Insurance Company was st arted tb ree or bele yeare
ago,. and that although they issued fire policies' their
business was more connected with life insurance, and it
was their costot-a to trai:ef,r all their fire policies to
other offices paying them the premiutus,• and merely
receiving a sort of commission on the amount they paid.
In November, 1854, an arrangement of this description
was entered into with the. County Fire Office, but it
seemed that the basis of all the transactions was a letter
written by Mr. Beaumont, the defendant, in which 'he
expressed his readiness to accept of such policies as had
been effected in the Protestant Office as his agent should
select, and to become responsible for any loss that might
accrue in respect of those policies. Accordingly, it ap-
peared a number of policies were transferred from the
Protestant office to the County, and among them the,
two in question which were effected by a gentleman
named Middleton upon his stock-in-trade and a building
at Hull. The whole of the property was destroyed by
fire on the 18th of December last, and it appeared that
upon the defendant being called upon to pay the pe•
licies as it was contended be was bound to do under
his agreement, he declarel that he was not liable,.
and the present action was therefore brought to
try the question. There were a good many technical
points in the case, bu: the substantial question to be de-
cided was whether under the letter that had been written
by the defendant the County Fire Office was legally
bound to•pay the policies in question.
Mr. G. Bain, who stated that he was a Parliamentary
agent, and one of the board of directors of the Protestant
Fire and Life Office, and that he generally acted as
chairman, was called as a witness. He said it was the
custom of the company to re-insure in other offices all
their fire risks, and before the arrangement with the
County they did so with the London and Liverpool.
The defendant was the •manager of the County. Fire
Office, and, in October, 1845, he had an interview with
him upon the subject of transferring their fire policies to
that uffice, and, on the 4th of November, be received a
letter from the defendant, in which he consented to take
the policies that should be selected by his agent upon cer-
tain eel di:ions. (The letter was put in and read.) He did"
not know whether any answer was sent, but he saw Mr.
Beaumont afterward', and understood-that the arrange-,
meet contained in the letter'-was to-be caetied out, and
that the County. was to be responsible for all the risks..
their agent selected. Mr. Middleton's, policies were
among those that were transferred from the Protestant
Office to the County.-
Cress examined by Mr. James—l never heard that
the matter had been submitted t counsel, and that an
opinion bad been given that the agreement on the form
contained in the letter was not legal and could pot be
ceirried.out. Several applications were made by the de-
fendant in the year 1.855 for the amount of the premiums
that were due upon the—lialicies •transferred to the
County. I did not say to Mr. Cundy, the solicitor to
the County; that the Protestant had no money to pay
the premiums with. In August there wore 401. or 501.
due to the County. The reason the money had not been
paid before was thattliere was a dispute respect.ng the
amount of allowance that was due to our company.
Mr. James—Upon your oath, had you the money to
pay with ?
Witness—l think we had. I could have paid it myself.
I will swear that the Protestant Company had as much
as 501, at their bankers at the time. I do not recollect
telling Mr. Cundy that te'te had not got the money to
pay with. I believe Mr. Candy toll, me that if the
premiums were not paid immediately, the County would
have nothing to do with the affair. He did not say that
the C mety would net pay any of the policies if the pre-
miums were not handed over ; but he did say that they
would net accept any fresh policiee,' In Augirt I re-
ceived a letter from Mr. Candy, in which he demanded
591. 3s: for premiums, and said that if the amount were
not paid immediately he should be compelled to take
proceedings to recover it, and he hoped the Protestant
Company would spare him the necessity of being c,m
polled t.) adopt such n disagreeable proceeding. The
secretary of the County also wrote to us asking for the
Money due, and requesting that a sum -of 43/. to which
they were clear'y entitled unght be at once transmitted,
1 eying the balance to be a subject for after discussion.
Sent a cheque for the amount on the 21st of December.
I am not aware whether this was after the fire at Hull.

Mr. James—Now, I ask you upon your oath, sir, and
I ask you to be cauti,u., whether you sent that cheque
until after you Lad heard of the 'fire ?
Witne3s—l hai not seen any letter from Mr. Middle-
ton, but I think I had beard of the fire. before I sent the
cheque for the amount of the premiums that were due.

Cross-examination continued-=I thud; I heard the fire
at Mr. Middleton's' taikeri about in the cffice ; but it
was not on =mint of the fire happening that I rent the
cheque.. The money ought to have been paid before,
but people did not always pay accounts the moment
they. were due, and this was the only reason he could
give fir the delay. The fire at Mr. Middleton's vas
inentiontd in the office,..and then it was proposed that
he should send a cheque for 4f 1. the C lunty. It
was his own private chi irtc that he sent, and the amount
was paid out of his o Jvn tunds, but he was the treasurer
of the company as well as the chairman, and it was all
the same thing.

Mr. James-I
—As you were the treasurer, p. reaps you
can give us some idea what amount of funds the com-
pany possessed at this time ?

Witness—No, Icannot, indeed. I have not got the
books.

Mr,Jameg—Surely you Can give us some idea what
amount the company hai at their bankers' ?
Witne.s—No, I cannot.
Mr. James—Had they 49/. ?
Witness—Ye., I aid swear they hal :49/ , but I
cannot say how much more.
Cross-examined—l know that an action was tried at
Yt rk last week, in which Mr. Muldieton sought to re
eqver the amount of his policies from the company, but
I am not aware that the company pleaded that they had
no money to pay him with. [ have heard there was such
a plea. I cannot :ay whether a claim for 121. arising
out of a fire at Plymouth was mad) upon the office, and
they were. unable to pay it. lam not certain about it.
B iron Alderson (to the witbess)—Do you mean to say
that you, as chairman of this company, do not know
whether a claim was made upon- it f r the sum of 121.,
and whether it was paid or not ? All I can say i., if it
be so, it is a very singular state of things.
Cross-examination continued—l cannot now Fay how
mueh money the company have at their hankers'. I
know that they have some, but I cannot say bow much.
Nomoney was paid to the County under the agreement
until the cheque for 491. was sent in on the 21st of De-
cember, which was two days after the fire happened.
Mr. James—Have you issued any fresh policies to the
public after pleading that you had no money to pay Mr.
Middleton's policies with ?
Witness—Yes. I believe that fresh policies have boen
issued within the last few days.
. Mr. James—To what amount ?