Grbavach v. Casualty Co. of America

JAMES, J.

The plaintiff herein recovered judgment against one Reed for personal injuries alleged to have been suffered while the plaintiff was being conveyed as a passenger in an automobile operated by the said Reed. Reed carried insurance protection by policy issued by the defendant Pacific Coast Casualty Company. By the terms of that policy the insurance company agreed that its liability thereunder would

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inure to the benefit of any person who recovered judgment against the insured. Taking advantage of that condition, plaintiff, after securing judgment against Reed, brought this action against defendant Pacific Coast Casualty Company and joined defendant Casualty Company of America because of the fact that the latter company had entered into a certain reinsurance agreement with the defendant first named. The Casualty Company of America disclaimed any liability to the plaintiff here and appeals from the judgment entered against it.

It is insisted that in the complaint of plaintiff no cause of action was stated as against the appellant, and, further, that the evidence was insufficient to show that any liability had accrued under the alleged reinsurance agreement. It requires, indeed, a most liberal interpretation of the language used in the complaint in order to sustain it as sufficient in its statement of a cause of action against appellant. That portion of the complaint which purports to show such liability is as follows: “That as plaintiff is informed and believes and therefore alleges, on or about February 28th, 1916, the defendant Casualty Company of America entered into a certain re-insurance agreement with the defendant Pacific Coast Casualty Company, under the terms of which said Casualty Company of America re-insured all of the outstanding liability of defendant Pacific Coast Casualty Company, .including the liability of said Pacific Coast Casualty Company by reason of the execution of the policy of insurance before mentioned, and said Casualty Company of America thereupon assumed all outstanding liability of said Pacific Coast Casualty Company, including all liability by reason of the execution of said policy of insurance by the defendant Pacific Coast Casualty Company.”

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The allegation that a certain reinsurance agreement was made and that “under the terms of which said Casualty Company of America re-insured all of the outstanding liability of defendant Pacific Coast Casualty Company,” standing by itself, certainly does not show that such an agreement was made as to make the appellant liable for the damages alleged.