Court Opinion

ID: 9863209
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 03:12:47.906571+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:47:55.071306
License: Public Domain

STEAKLEY, Justice
(concurring).
I concur in the disposition of the cause but disagree with the construction apparently given the insurance contract. I read the majority opinion to hold that Bimco was insured against the loss by theft of copper wiring and transformers not shown to have been damaged in the burglary. I see no ambiguity in the provisions of the policy with its Vandalism and Malicious Mischief Endorsement. Properly construed, the contract entitled Bimco to recover the cost of labor and materials required to restore the damage to the building itself; it did not entitle Bimco to recover for property lost by theft which, of course, was the purpose of the burglary. Only in this manner is full effect given both the insuring clause and the endorsement. The latter did no more than add very limited coverage of the same character commensurate with the minor premium of ten dollars.
In my view the majority has misconceived the nature of the insurance contract. It insured Bimco against direct loss to the specifically described warehouse building resulting from the listed perils of Fire and Lightning, Extended Coverage (Windstorm, Hurricane, Hail, Explosion, Riot, Civil Commotion, Smoke, Aircraft and Land Vehicles), Explosion, Vandalism and Malicious Mischief, ajid loss of Rents. The insurance contract did not purport to insure against loss resulting from the wrongful appropriation and theft of property, another distinct type of insurance carrying a corresponding premium charge. It insured direct loss to the building with the endorsement extending coverage to a similar type of loss. This was described as damage to or destruction of the building by acts of vandalism and malicious mischief, and by acts of burglars. That the latter covered peril, i. e., damage to the building caused by the acts of burglars, was limited in scope to damage directly to the building is made explicit. The endorsement says that when it is attached to a policy covering direct loss to the described property, as it was here, the Company shall not be liable for loss by pilferage, theft, burglary or larceny. This necessarily means that loss by theft was an excluded peril. The words of the endorsement, as well as the small premium charge, plainly reflect the intent of the parties to preserve the nature of the insurance contract as one insuring against direct loss to the building itself, and just as plainly the endorsement may not be construed beyond this clearly expressed intention so as to enlarge the coverage to include loss from theft. See Royal Indemnity Company v. Marshall, 388 S.W.2d 176 (Tex.Sup.1965) and British America Assur. Co. v. Miller, 91 Tex. 414, 44 S.W. 60, 39 L.R.A. 545 (1898).
The case is one of first impression in Texas, and as far as can be determined, elsewhere. Decisions in other jurisdictions *359construing policies with different phraseology and characteristics are not in point, and, indeed, not particularly persuasive one way or the other. The majority cite State Automobile Mutual Ins. Co. v. Trautwein, 414 S.W.2d 587 (Ky.1967) as concluding “that the purpose was to recognize that injury to the building was covered, although occurring in connection with a burglary.” This does not meet the issue at hand; neither does Allstate Ins. Co. v. Coin-O-Mat, Inc., 202 So.2d 598 (Fla.App.1967).
CALVERT, C. J., and WALKER and REAVLEY, JJ., join in this concurring opinion.