Stoneham v the Ocean, Railway, and General Accident Insurance Company
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Year | 1875 |
| Court | Divisional Court |
Insurance, Life - Policy - Death by Accident - “Within the United Kingdom” - Condition in Policy - Notice of Accident - Omission to give Notice - Insurer's Liability.
A policy of insurance covered death caused by accident happening within the United Kingdom, and was made subject to a condition that in case of fatal accident notice thereof must be given to the insurers within seven days.
The assured was accidentally drowned in Jersey. It was impossible to give notice within seven days.
In an action on the policy:—
Held, that the accident happened within the United Kingdom, and that notice was not a condition precedent to the right to recover, and the insurers were liable.
ARGUMENT of points of law raised on the pleadings under Order XXV., r. 2.
The material facts appearing on the pleadings were as follows. The plaintiff sued as the representative of Arthur Richard Warner, deceased, on a policy of insurance, entered into by the defendant company with the deceased, which provided that in the event of the assured sustaining “any bodily injury caused by any external accident, happening within the United Kingdom, or on the continent of Europe, or whilst proceeding from one European port to another in a decked vessel, and if the assured shall die, solely from the effects of such accident, within ninety days after the happening thereof, the company shall pay to the legal personal representatives or assigns of the assured the sum of 1000l. at the expiration of three calendar months after satisfactory proof of the death of the assured shall have been given to the company.”
There was a provision in the policy “that this policy shall be subject to the conditions indorsed hereon, which shall be considered as incorporated herein.”
One of such conditions provided that: “In the event of nonfatal injury by an accident occurring to the assured notice thereof in writing shall be given to the company … within seven days of the occurrence thereof.”
Another condition was as follows: “In case of fatal accident notice thereof must be given to the company at the head office in London within the like time of seven days.”
The assured was accidentally drowned in Jersey, and notice was not, and under the circumstances of the case could not have been, given to the company in accordance with the last-mentioned condition.
Bosanquet, Q.C. (Spokes, with him), for the plaintiff. The defendants are liable for the result of the accident in Jersey, for it happened “within the United Kingdom,” within the meaning of the policy. The giving of notice within seven days is not a condition precedent to the...
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