National Union Fire Insurance Co. v. Manuel P. San Nicolas

Appellee having suffered judgment for personal injuries brought this suit in Guam against appellant as his insurer to recover the amount of such judgment pursuant to his contract of insurance. Appellant defended upon the ground that at the time of the accident the policy of insurance had been cancelled for failure of appellee to pay the specified premium. Following trial before the court without a jury, appellant’s defense was rejected and judgment was entered in favor of the appellee. This appeal followed.

We find ourselves in the frustrating position of being wholly unable to come to grips with this case. The district court apparently believed that appellant had failed to accomplish a cancellation of the policy. We cannot, however, ascertain from the record the reason why. The findings of fact suggest that it was for the reason that premiums paid, when prorated, provided a paid-up status beyond the date of purported cancellation and that there was no tender back by appellant of unearned premiums. The court drew no conclusion from these facts and Jensen v. Traders & General Ins. Co., 1959, 52 Cal.2d 786 , 345 P.2d 1 , would indicate that they are without legal significance. The…