Merchant: The Supreme Court Ruling Judgment was given by his Honour Judge Grain at H. M. Supreme Court on Monday in the case of Messrs. A- and T. Nastastefisky v. the Far Eastern Insur-arca Ca. Flaintifis claimed payment of G. Y. 40,827 on a policy of insurance with defendants covering goods destroyed by fire at their Tlarbiu factory, and defendants alleged forfeiture of the benefits of the policy by reason of breach of a stipulation in the policy as to the place where books should be kept; further that plaintiffs made a false declaration relative to the value of the goods. His Honour funnd that there had been both a breach of the policy and a false declaration of values, and gave judgment for defendants, with costs, _Mr. P. W. Goldring, for plagn tiffs, gave notice of appeal, and, on the application of Mr. R. N. Macleod (for defendants), the amount of security deposited was increased from $250 to $750.
His Lordship, in giving judgment, said:—The plaintiffs claim the sum of Gold Y.40,827.76 as the amount awarded to them in an arbitration before Mr. A. D. Blackburn with reference to a fire which took place on the premises of the plaintiffs on May 9, 1921, the plaintiffs at that time holding a fire insurance policy from the Far Eastern Insurance Company. The defendants admit that this amount was awarded but say that the reference was confined to the amount of the plaintiffs' loss in respect of merchandise, and had no reference to the conditions of the policy considered or discussed in the reference. This view is established by Mr. Blackburn's award which has been produced and put in as evidence at the hearing before the Court.
The defendants further plead that one of the conditions of the policy was:—
"It is hereby stipulated and agreed that the insured will preserve in a place or premises other than place er premises affected by this policy, and constantly maintain stock registers, invoices, ete., prepared and kept in such manner whereby the description, quanti ties and costs of the goods insured may be known and calculated at any given moment during the currency of the policy."
Part of the goods insured were "goods stored or to be stored in the factory or offices of the insured." The place where the books were kept was in the office of the compound, and it was there that a fire took place and burnt not only the goods but all the books of the business as well. Amongst the property insured was the "Household goods and personal" effects of every description contained in the dwelling house of the insured." This dwelling where the property was also destroyed by fire was part ai the same building as the office and consisted of the floor above tle office.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.