AN INSURANCE CASE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXI, Issue 15331, 14 June 1910, Page 5

AN INSURANCE CASE.

[Fee Press Association.] WELLINGTON, June 13. A claim for £l7O under a policy of insurance was the subject of a judgment delivered in the Supremo Court to-day by his Honor the Chief .Justice (Sir Robert Stout). It arose out of, an action brought by Emily Pressor against the Ocean Accident and Guarantee Corporation, Limited, as the resnlti of a fire in plaintiff's house in Cambridge Terrace last year, when a certain quantity of furniture, etc., was alleged to havo been destroyed. It was claimed that the value of the goods lost in the firo that were insured amounted to £l7O. Commenting on the allegation that a false claim hud been put in. his Honor said there must bo clear evidence of fraud- Of this he was not .satisfied. H was clear, ho said, that in cases where the plea of arson was raised the onus of proving arson rested on the defendant, and he must give as satisfactory evidence of the arson as if there had been an indictment for arson against the plaintiff. Suspicion was not enough. " There are," lie added, " various things which, it' the witnesses called for the defence are witnesses for truth, point to wilful fire-raising. lam of opinion, however, that the evidence is not sufficient to warrant a court in finding, that the plaintiff had committed arson or procured this crime to bo committed. In my opinion, therefore, the defence in this action fails. T may, however, add that there were many circumstances in this case, which, 1 think, showed that the case war, properly defended, so that the plaintiff .should be called upon to prove her case before a court. In ray opinion the court can, in this case, be guided by the claim put in."' In giving judgment for £.157 9s, his Honor deducted from the original claim amounts of £5 lis. representing an error in addition, and £7, value of a machine which was uninsured. Costs according to scale were allowed. i