BURNING OF A MOTOR-CAR. IMPORTANT INSURANCE CASE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 62, 11 September 1911, Page 8

BURNING OF A MOTOR-CAR. IMPORTANT INSURANCE CASE.

A case of importance to motorists and of legal interest' on account of the difficult questions involved was heard at Napier by the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) on Thursday last. The plaintiff, Henry John Holder, claimed £300 from the defendants, the Phoenix Insurance Company, under an insurance policy on a motor-car. This car, the property of l Pkin-toffj was destroyed by fire en the Taradale-road. It was insured for the amount claimed' with the defendant company. The whole question was as to whether the fire originated in the car itself or out of it, the policy providing agamif any liability on the part of the defendants for a fire within the car itself. The facts as set forth by counsel for the plaintiff were aa follow:— Th« car had upset on the side of the Taradaleroad, through the steering gear becoming unmanageable. A quantity of benzine escaped and floated on some water alongside the road. Mr. Holder took one of the kerosene lamps with which the car was equipped, to ascertain the state of affairs. It was thought, although the defendant was not certain on the point, that the light from the lamp ignited the benzine floating on the water and had caused the fire by which the car was destroyed. The contention for the plaintiff was that the lamp was' not a part of the car, but an acoessory, and that, therefore, the defendant company were not exempt under the clause in the policy upon which they relied. Charles' A. B. Hawkins, of the firm of Hawkins and Rome, motor agents, gave evidence to the effect that lamps wero considered accessories to a car, and not portion of the car itself. He knew of a good many ways in which a, fire could originate in a ear itself. , _ l?i-ed. Lowe, motor car engineer and importer, gave similar evidence. j H. J. Holder, the plaintiff, gave evidence aS to hoy/ the accident occurred which resulted ia tho destruction of the car by rire, as indicated by his counsel. He had bought the lamps separately from the car. When the accident occurred he> switched off the electric current and took one of, the lamps to see what had been the cause of the accident. He then ascertained that a bolt had come out of the steering gear. He then noticed that benaine on top of the wafcei had caught fire. The file extended to the car and completely destroyed it. The fire certainly started outside of and some little way from the car. When thecar tot>pied ov«* th» lamp he had leffe in it was either buried in the water or very near it. He did noi. know how the fire started but lie knew that it was not in the ear itself. E. H. Limbnck, bicycle aeenfc, nvho was \viJ4l tho plainMffi when the accident occurred, gave similar evidence. This was the case for the plaintiff. Mr. Blair said the defendants relied ofl two points. The first was that the fite" by which th 6 car t? as destroyed was really part of an accident ' flou coveted by the policy and not a fire of the nature Contemplated between the- parties. The i second point -was that the fire had i originated in the car Ht» contended that the fire must have been originated by a spark from the lamp, that the lamp j wae a part ot the caa, and that therefore the fire had come from the car itself. After hearing counsel who quoted a. number of authorities, His Honour reserved judgment stating that he considered ip a Very important and very difficult case. \ Mr. Lusk appeared foT the plaintiff, and Mr. A. W. Blair for tile defendant Enquiries have been made as to when the Te Aro Baths will- be available to bathers between the hours of 12 and 2 each day. The Town Clerk" (Mr. J. R. Palmer) states that for the summer months from the Ist October the baths will be open during the luncheon hours. Mr. Couchtnan, jun., driver of the van of a^ Petone laundry, who broke his leg in Wellington last week, is progressing satisfactorily in the Hospital. Mr. \V\ L. Robertson will sell by auction at his roouiK, M&nnerA^tfect, to-mor-<l£VJu llCtttttold. fuMU*liro : &ftd.,£UJisky«i i