Court Opinion

ID: 9831716
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 21:18:58.766331+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:43:37.327864
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
The record shows that, soon after the issuance of the insurance policy, the insurer sought to cancel the policy for fraud and collusion of the insured and the insurer’s agent, and an account thereof tendered to the insured, $26.50, being the amount of the premium paid for the purported coverage, in cancellation of the policy; then, again, after suit was filed, the tender was renewed and the insurer offered payment of the amount of the tender into court, “conditioned upon the surrender of the policy of insurance in question, and the plaintiff’s agreement, or the court’s finding, that no policy of insurance was ever actually in force between the parties”. The insured declined to accept the tender, on the conditions stated.
On trial of the cause, the court found, in effect, that no policy of insurance was ever actually in force between the parties, thus meeting a condition imposed by the insurer for the return of the premium; accordingly, on payment of the amount of the tender into court, after final judgment that no insurance was in force on the automobile involved in the collision, the insurance company, by the judgment, should have been discharged on its plea of tender, with its cost, and the policy of insurance canceled. The omission of the court below to make disposition of the tender was not called to the attention of the trial court by motion, or otherwise, but, for the first time, is assigned as error here. In view of the record and disposition of the case, the premium should have been returned to the insured; therefore, the judgment of the court below is reformed, canceling its policy of insurance and discharging the insurance company on payment into court of the sum of $26.50 for the use and benefit of the insured; and, for the reasons stated, all costs in the court below and on appeal are taxed against plaintiffs in error; in all other respects, plaintiffs in error’s motion for rehearing is overruled.