Erlin v. National Union Fire Insurance

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THE COURT.

This is an appeal from a judgment for the plaintiff in an action to recover insurance commissions alleged to have been earned by the plaintiff and for an accounting. At the close of the trial the accounting was had and judgment for the plaintiff was entered in the sum of $13,342.27.

In January, 1926, the plaintiff learned that West American Finance Company, hereinafter called the finance company, was about to change its insurance carrier. He approached the officers of that company and offered to obtain a new insurance carrier for them in their automobile financing operations. That company gave its consent to the plaintiff to go into the insurance market and obtain a proposition for it. Accordingly about January 21, 1926, the plaintiff called on W. R. Cole, an officer of the defendant National Union Fire Insurance Company, a Pennsylvania corporation duly licensed to do business in this state. On that day W. R. Cole gave to the plaintiff a typewritten proposition addressed to and which was submitted to the finance company. That communication set out certain percentages, ranging from 25 to 40, as the commissions payable to the finance company on premiums 'for various types of insurance written at the instance of that company. The plaintiff was also given a paper by Mr. Cole on which were stated certain gross percentages which, on some types of insurance, were from 5 to 10 per cent in excess of the percentages stated in the letter of January 21st to the finance company. It was the evident purpose of the second paper to submit to the plaintiff certain overriding commissions, which would be paid to him on business coming from the finance company. During the same period the finance company was contemplating the establishment of an insurance department and the plaintiff had been offered and was considering a position at a salary of $6,000 per annum to manage that department. When Mr. Haines, the general manager of the finance company, learned that the plaintiff was also negotiating with the defendant for an overriding commission, he objected to the same on the ground that the plaintiff could not well serve both companies at the same time. Further negotiations led to further dissatisfaction. Mr. Haines then notified the

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