Godin Et Al v London Assurance Company: 9 Feb 1758

The defendant insurers contended that because there had been double insurance they ought only to have to pay half the loss, although neither insurer had as yet paid any sum. They appealed against an order that it pay the whole loss.
Held: The appeal failed. Lord Mansfield said: ‘Before the introduction of wagering policies, it was, upon principles of convenience, very wisely established, that a man should not recover more than he had lost. Insurance was considered as an indemnity only, in case of a loss: and therefore the satisfaction ought not to exceed the loss . . If the insured is to receive but one satisfaction, natural justice says that the several insurers shall all of them contribute pro rata, to satisfy that loss against which they have all insured . . Where a man makes a double insurance of the same thing, in such a manner that he can clearly recover, against several insurers in distinct policies, a double satisfaction, ‘the law certainly says that he ought not to recover doubly for the same loss, but be content with one single satisfaction for it’ . . And if the whole should be recovered from one, he ought to stand in the place of the insured, to receive contribution from the other, who was equally liable to pay the whole.’

Judges:

Lord Mansfield

Citations:

[1758] EngR 138, (1758) 1 Burr 489, (1758) 97 ER 419

Links:

Commonlii

Citing:

See AlsoGodin v The London Assurance Company 1746
Insurance made by a factor, who has a lien on the goods of his principal, does not pass by a consignmerit of the goods insured to a third person, by the principal. . .

Cited by:

CitedZurich Insurance Plc UK Branch v International Energy Group Ltd SC 20-May-2015
A claim had been made for mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos, but the claim arose in Guernsey. Acknowledging the acute difficultis particular to the evidence in such cases, the House of Lords, in Fairchild. had introduced the Special Rule . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Insurance

Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.342439