AN INSURANCE CASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10627, 16 December 1897, Page 6

AN INSURANCE CASE.

\ [BY TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Wednesday. An insurance case was begun in the Supreme Court to-day, before Mr. Justice Edwards and a special jury of 12. The plaintiffs are the Bank of Australasia and O. W. Oldham, of Patea, and tho defendant is the North German Fire Insurance Company. Oldham owned extensive slaughtering and meat-canning works at Canville, near Patea, of the value, it is stated, of over £1000- In 1889 he insured the buildings for £350, and the policy was transferred to the bank as mortgagee. Subsequently, in 1895, a further policy of £500 was taken out, and this also was transferred to the bank, which paid the premiums. Lasb June a fire occurred at the works, destroying several of the buildings and damaging others, and as the company refused to pay the insurance the present action is brought to recover £250 in respect of the first policy and £500 under the second one, together with interest at the rate of 8 per cent, from the date of the fire. The defence setup is in the first place a denial that the buildings were of the value stated, or that plaintiffs had any insurable interest whatever in the policies at the time of the fire, or if any buildings were covered they were still standing uninjured. The company, among other things, claims that thore has been non-compliance with the conditions of the policies, particularly in regard to the erection of heat • generating appliances, detachment of buildings, and their description, and it alleges misrepresentation in several important particulars, both before an( since the fire. ' Tbe case was not concluded when the Court rose for the day.