Hides were insured for their journey. Unfortunately they were in a process of putrefaction which would have been complete by the time of arrival at the port of destination, Bordeaux, such that on arrival they could not properly have been described as hides.
Held: Lord Abinger CB: ‘In the case before us the jury have found that the hides were so far damaged by a peril of the sea, that they never could have arrived in the form of hides. By the process of fermentation and putrefaction, which had commenced, a total destruction of them before their arrival at the port of destination, became as inevitable as if they had been cast into the sea or consumed by fire. Their destruction not being consummated at the time they were taken out of the vessel, they became in that state a salvage for the benefit of the party who was to sustain the loss, and were accordingly sold; and the facts of the loss and the sale were made known at the same time to the assured. Neither he nor the underwriters could at that time exercise any control over them, or by any interference alter the consequences. It appears to us, therefore, that this was not the case of what has been called a constructive loss, but of an absolute total loss of the goods: they could never arrive; and, at the same moment when the intelligence of the loss arrived, all speculation was at an end.’
Judges:
Lord Abinger CB
Citations:
[1836] Bing NC 266
Cited by:
Cited – Kastor Navigation Co Ltd and Another v AGF M A T and others (‘Kastor Too’) ComC 4-Dec-2002
The claimant ship owner and its mortgagee sued the defendant insurer after the loss of the insured vessel, through fire. The insurers replied that the damage by fire was so extensive that the vessel was beyond repair when she sank, and was therefore . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Insurance
Updated: 10 May 2022; Ref: scu.251810