Bert and Maria Abrenilla, Small Business Administration v. China Insurance Company, Ltd., Chung Kuo Insurance Company, Ltd.

This is an action to recover the proceeds of a fire insurance policy after the destruction by fire of the insured structure. The insurance company defended on the ground that the plaintiff policy holders, Bert and Maria Abrenilla, had no insurable interest in the structure because they no longer owned the land on which the structure had rested. The case went to the jury on the issue of whether the Abrenillas retained an insurable interest in the structure because it was personalty. The jury returned a verdict of $15,500 in favor of the Abrenil-las.

On appeal to the Appellate Division of the District Court of Guam, the Appellate Division reversed on the ground that there had been no triable issue of fact. The Appellate Division ruled that since the structure was bolted to a concrete foundation, it was a fixture as a matter of law. The court reasoned that because the Abrenillas had no interest in the real property, they had no insurable interest in the structure.

Guam Civ.Code § 1013 (1970) provides as follows:

Guam Civ.Code § 660 (1970) provides that:

Both statutes were modeled on identical California statutes, see Cal.Civ.Code §§ 660, 1013 (West 1982), and California law is…