Opinion ID: 1492035
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Text: 1732. cc No. ______ Operator Auto Transport Company Policy No. 38638 Address St. Louis, Mo. Transportation Indemnity Co. New York This will acknowledge receipt of notice from you of the cancellation of the above numbered policy effective on the 11th day of January, 1931. The rules of this Commission do not permit the department to return cancelled policies as they are considered a part of the official records, but a copy of this letter will be attached to the policy, in the files of the Commission, and the assured will be notified of the withdrawal of insurance by your company. Corporation Commission Motor Bus Department By Patton Copy sent to assured ______ by ______ Corporation Commission of Oklahoma Received January 1931 Motor Carrier Dept. Holland, an insurance broker at Oklahoma City, attended to the insurance requirements of Reynolds. In January, 1931, he was also local agent for the Transportation Company. Holland testified that after receiving oral notice from Eberle & Company, general agents for the Transportation Company, to cancel policy 38,638, he wrote on a blank form for acknowledging receipt of notice of cancellation, the following: Transportation Indemnity Company, St. New York; Auto Transport Company, St. Louis, Mo., 11th day of January, 1931; and then delivered it to M. B. Hickman; that it was customary for the agents to fill in the blanks on such forms; that he did not write the name Patton or place the commission's receiving date stamp thereon; and that he received the original, of which Ex. 5 is a copy, from the motor carrier department of the commission through the mail. M. B. Hickman testified that he was director of the motor carrier division of the commission; that he held the position in 1930 and 1931; that he had charge of the issuance of permits and the handling of insurance policies; that Moody Patton, an employee under him, looked after the filing of insurance policies and handled cancellation notices; that permits, bonds, and insurance policies were filed in numerical order under the numbers of the permit or certificate; that no permanent record of each instrument was made; that instruments, correspondence with reference thereto, and matters of that kind were placed in loose leaf folders and filed in a filing cabinet; and that the cabinet was not kept locked. He further testified that on February 24, 1931, there was no evidence in his files of the cancellation of policy 38,638, and that the first notice he had of the claimed cancellation thereof was the letter identified as Ex. 4; that Ex. 5 first appeared in the office of the commission on April 9, 1931; that the commission made and kept carbon copies of the original acknowledgment of receipt of notices of cancellation; that there was no carbon copy of Ex. 5 in the files of the commission; that he did not know whether the signature on Ex. 5 was that of Patton; that he did not sign the name Patton to Ex. 5; and that the records of the commission did not show any notice from Holland or from Eberle & Company of intention to cancel policy 38,638. Moody Patton testified that in January, 1931, he was auditor for the motor carrier department of the Corporation Commission, and had charge of the insurance files and cancellation of insurance policies; that he did not receive on January 6, 1931, notice from the Transportation Company, Holland, or Eberle & Company of intention to cancel policy 38,638; that he never at any time acknowledged in writing receipt of notice of intention to cancel such policy; that he did not sign Ex. 5; that the name Patton thereon was not in his handwriting; and that he generally signed acknowledgments of cancellation notices Moody Patton. On January 12, 1931, Scruggs & Davis as agents for the American Company, at Holland's request, issued American Company policy 8007. On the same day Holland as insurance broker for Reynolds filed such policy in the office of the commission. No. 1732 was endorsed on the back thereof. Holland testified that at the time he filed such policy, he told M. B. Hickman that it was in lieu of policy 38,638. Form E was attached to policy 8007. On January 19, 1931, the American Company sent the following notice to the commission: Please accept notice of cancellation of American Fidelity and Casualty Company policy No. 8007, covering the Auto Transport Company's operations in the State of Oklahoma, effective this date. This notice was received by the commission on January 21, 1931, as shown by the commission's stamp thereon, and the commission made a pencil notation thereon, Effective Feb. 10th, 1931. On November 28, 1931, M. B. Hickman as director of the motor carrier division sent a letter to the American Company acknowledging receipt of such notice of cancellation on January 21, 1931, and stating that the liability ceased on policy 8007 on February 10, 1931. Moody Patton on Receipt of such notice on January 21, 1931, wrote on policy 8007, Liability ceased 2-8-31. Thereafter M. B. Hickman corrected 2-8-31 to read 2-10-31. Policy 8007 contained among others the following provisions: J. This policy may be cancelled at any time by either party    upon written notice to the other stating when thereafter cancellation may be effective; the date of cancellation shall then be the end of the policy period. No written notice of the cancellation of policy 8007 was given to Reynolds by the American Company, but on January 21, 1931, the American Company orally notified Holland as agent for Reynolds that it desired to cancel policy 8007, and Holland notified Reynolds thereof by telephone. Reynolds instructed Holland to secure another policy. Thereupon Holland as insurance broker for Reynolds applied to R. B. Hickman agent for the Standard Company for a policy. Hickman communicated with the Standard Company and it authorized him to write such policy, but expressly stipulated that the premium therefor should be paid before the policy was delivered. R. B. Hickman thereupon notified Holland that such company would furnish the policy, but upon the express condition that the premium was to be paid before the policy was delivered. Holland informed R. B. Hickman that Reynolds would be in Oklahoma City on February 6, 1931, and would then receive and pay for the policy. R. B. Hickman then prepared an original and duplicate policy 401,844. He attached form E to both the original and duplicate. He signed form E attached to the duplicate, but not the one attached to the original policy. He placed the figures 1732 on the original policy. Hickman went to Holland's office on February 6, 1931, and waited there for Reynolds until about twelve o'clock noon, when he left. Shortly before Holland had also left his office. Hickman left the original policy with Holland's stenographer with instructions that Reynolds might inspect it, but that neither he nor Holland should take it from the office. While Hickman was absent, Holland returned to his office. The stenographer gave the policy to Holland and he took it to the office of the commission and placed it on Moody Patton's desk. Holland testified that the figures 1732 were not on the policy when he left it on such desk. Prior to one o'clock P. M., R. B. Hickman went to the office of the commission and there saw the policy lying on Mr. Patton's desk. Hickman picked it up and took it back to his office, where he kept it for a few days. On February 12 or 13, 1931, he returned the original and duplicate policies to the Standard Company for cancellation. M. B. Hickman testified that there was no record in his office of policy 401,844; that he did not write the figures 1732 on such policy; that liability policies or bonds are examined and approved before they are actually filed; that such policy would not have been approved without form E being attached and properly signed; that so far as he knew policy 401,844 was never filed, deposited, or left with the commission. Moody Patton testified that he had no knowledge of policy 401,844 having been placed on his desk; that he did not put the figures 1732 on such policy, and had no knowledge that such policy was ever in his office. At the trial Moody Patton wrote the figures 1732, and the sample of his writing was given to the jury for inspection and comparison with the figures 1732 on original policy 401,844. Over objection counsel for the Transportation Company were permitted to prove by M. B. Hickman that it was customary, when an insurance company desired to cancel a policy, for the broker or agent representing the insured to bring in a new policy and ask to have it stamped and filed, and that then an acknowledgment of notice of cancellation similar to Ex. 5 would be sent out in the regular course of mail, notwithstanding the regulations of the commission and form E, which required twenty days' written notice of the cancellation to the commission. On February 24, 1931, Geo. D. Garrett, husband of Ethel O'Neal Garrett and father of the other plaintiffs, was killed as the result of the negligence of an employee of Reynolds while operating a motor vehicle for Reynolds in Oklahoma. On October 26, 1931, Mrs. Garrett recovered judgment for $5,000 against Reynolds. The issues presented three primary questions: (1) Was policy 38,638 canceled on or before February 24, 1931; (2) was policy 8007 canceled before that date; and (3) was policy 401,844 in force and effect as between the Standard Company and the public on that date. At the close of the evidence each of the defendants moved for an instructed verdict in its favor. The court instructed a verdict for the American Company. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Transportation Company and against the Standard Company. Judgment was entered on the verdict. The Standard Company has appealed, and the plaintiffs below have filed a cross-appeal against the Transportation Company and the American Company.