Court Opinion

ID: 9604669
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:25:20.307632+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:04:25.014187
License: Public Domain

HARRISON, J.,
dissenting.
I would follow the line of cases, grounded in sound public policy, holding that no one acquires an insurable interest in stolen property. In Bolling and Dalis, relied upon by the majority, the insureds clearly had a lawful, legitimate, and substantial economic interest in the properties insured. There, neither the properties nor the insureds were in any way suspect. Here, we are dealing with stolen property *779acquired from a thief. The majority holds that the interest acquired by the automobile dealer was economic, substantial, and lawful. I disagree. The person from whom the dealer acquired the automobile had no title, legal or equitable, no right of possession, and could pass no “legal” or “lawful” interest in the automobile. The thief could only surrender physical possession of that which he illegally acquired and possessed.
Admittedly the dealer had a financial investment involved by virtue of his $2600 payment for the stolen vehicle. However, this investment and the benefit and enjoyment by the dealer of its purchase was assured only if the theft remained undetected and its possession of the stolen goods went unchallenged. Therefore, protection of the dealer’s “interest” depended upon the success of a thief’s larcenous transaction. The court that decided Bolling, and the General Assembly that enacted Code § 38.1-331, never envisioned that such an “interest” could become an insurable interest.
The decision in this case not only reverses public policy but comes at an inopportune time in an era of mounting crime. By broadening the definition of an insurable interest, we decrease the risk taken by the purchaser of stolen property and make easier the “fencing” of such property by robbers and thieves. It also removes the incentive for an insured purchaser to take proper precaution, to scrutinize, and to make careful inquiry of the reliability, honesty, and integrity of those who offer to sell and deliver articles of personal property.
I would affirm the judgment of the lower court.