Geddes & Smith, Inc. v. Saint Paul Mercury Indemnity Co.

Defendant appeals from a judgment for plaintiff in an action to recover on an insurance policy issued by defendant to plaintiff’s vendor, California Aluminum Products, Inc. For the second time during this prolific litigation the dispute has reached this court. In our first decision, judgment for defendant was reversed and the ease was remanded for further proceedings. (Geddes & Smith, Inc. v. Saint Paul *604 Mercury Indemnity Co. (1959) 51 Cal.2d 558 [ 334 P.2d 881 ].) We have concluded that the judgment rendered upon remand should be affirmed with one modification.

A detailed exposition of the facts may be found in our prior opinion. Briefly stated, plaintiff, a contractor, purchased 760 doors from California Aluminum Products, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Aluminum Products) and installed them in 76 houses which it was building. After the houses had been completed, serious defects appeared in all the doors. Plaintiff spent an entire year correcting these defects and, as a result, was unable to carry on any other business. In April 1953 plaintiff recovered a judgment for $100,000 against Aluminum Products; and in the following November this action was brought against the…