Insurance mistake?

[confuzzed]

Mr and Mrs Match are married out of community of property. Mrs Match owns a
small shop which sells fireworks and cigarette lighters. Mr Match insures the
contents of the shop against fire damage. Mr Match takes out the insurance
contract with Gullible Insurance Company (“GIC”) in his own name. There is a
fire and the entire stock of fireworks held in the shop is destroyed. GIC refuses to
pay out under the insurance policy, arguing that Mr Match did not have an
insurable interest in his wife’s property.


What are Mr his chances of success if he sues the Gullible Insurance Company (“GIC”) on the contract of insurance?

 

[LdiJ]

Mr and Mrs Match are married out of community of property. Mrs Match owns a
small shop which sells fireworks and cigarette lighters. Mr Match insures the
contents of the shop against fire damage. Mr Match takes out the insurance
contract with Gullible Insurance Company (“GIC”) in his own name. There is a
fire and the entire stock of fireworks held in the shop is destroyed. GIC refuses to
pay out under the insurance policy, arguing that Mr Match did not have an
insurable interest in his wife’s property.


What are Mr his chances of success if he sues the Gullible Insurance Company (“GIC”) on the contract of insurance?

You are posting this question in the wrong forum, my friend. Try one of the forums that deals with insurance issues.

 

[mistoffolees]

You are posting this question in the wrong forum, my friend. Try one of the forums that deals with insurance issues.

It's also going to depend on the shop ownership. At the extremes, if the shop is owned solely by the wife, purchased from pre-marital assets and money has never been co-mingled, and if there is no other reason for it to be considered marital property, then he's going to have a harder time, but could probably still prevail (for example, if they rely on the wife's income from the shop and that income is no longer available after the fire, then he has an insurable interest).

At the other extreme, if it's clearly marital property and they mingle money from the shop with their household finances, it's a slam dunk.

I would start by contacting the state insurance commissioner. Unless there's more to the story than presented here (such as, for example, him not telling the insurance company about the fireworks), the insurance company is going to have a hard time sticking with their argument. He may also find an attorney who will take the case for fees to be collected from the insurer rather than cash.