Pan Malayan Insurance Corp. vs. Court of Appeals

Pan Malayan Insurance Corp. vs. Court of Appeals, 201 SCRA 382, G.R. No. !0"0 Septe#$er !, 11 Secon% &'v's'on( R)GA*A&+, .-

Sylla$usInsurance Law; Marine Insurance; Total Loss.- Under Sections 129

and 130 of the New Insurance Code, a total loss may either be actual or constructive In case of total loss in Marine Insurance, the assured is enti entitl tled ed to reco recove verr from from the the unde underw rwri rite terr the the whol whole e amou amount nt of his his subs su bscr crip ipti tion on (V (Vol ol.. 2, Arno Arnoul uld d Mar Mar. Ins. Ins. 9th 9th Ed. Ed. P. ! !"# "#$$ Also Alsop p vs vs.. %ommercial Insurance %o. cc Mass I& %ase 'o. 22, summ #)! #) ! It will be recalled that said rice seeds were treated and would "erminate u#on mere contact with water $he rule is that where the car"o by the #rocess of decom#osition or other chemical a"ency no lon"er remains the same %ind of thin" as before, an actual total loss has been su&ered 'oreover, it is undis#uted that no re#lacement whatsoever or any #ayment, for that matter, of the value of said lost car"o was made to ()* by #etitioner or +U$-. U$-.-C* -C* It is thus thus clear clear that ()* ()* su&er su&ered ed actual actual total total loss loss under under Section 130 of the Insurance Code, s#eci/cally under #ara"ra#hs c and d thereof, recom#ense recom#ense for which it has been denied u# to the #resent

acts acts-- (ood and )"ricu )"ricultu ltural ral *r"ani *r"aniat ation ion of the United United States States ()* ()* acce#ted the o&er of the +uon Stevedorin" Cor#oration +U$-.-C* to shi# the formers car"o rice seeds hen the loadin" was com#leted, +U$-.-C* issued a 4ill of +adin" in favor of ()* $he latter then secured insurance covera"e in the amount of 56,260,00000 from #etitioner, 5an 'alayan 'alayan Insura Insurance nce Cor#or Cor#orati ation, on, as evide evidence nced d by the latter latter7s 7s 'arine 'arine Car"o 5olicy and 5remium Invoice 8urin" its voya"e, ()* ()* was advised of  the sin%in" of the bar"e in the China Sea, hence it informed #etitioner and, later, formally /led its claim under the marine insurance #olicy #olicy )lso, when when ()* was was infor informe med d by +U$-. $-.-C -C* * of the the recov ecover ery y of the the lost lost shi#ment, for which reason ()* formally /led its claim with +U$-.-C*

for com#ensation of dama"e to its car"o $hereafter, des#ite re#eated demands to re#lace the same or to #ay for the total insured value in the sum of 56,260,00000, +US$-.-C* failed and refused to do so 5etitioner li%ewise failed to #ay for the losses and dama"es sustained by ()* by reason of its inability to recover the value of the shi#ment from +U$-.-C* 5etitioner claims that on uly 31, 19:0 it su##osedly en"a"ed the services of 5an )siatic )d;ustment and 'arine Surveyin" Cor#oration to investi"ate and e to 16>, and 9:3 ba"s were shortlanded or missin" )fter the alle"ed survey, 4arroso, r made a re#ort recommendin" to #etitioner the denial of ()*7s claim because the #artial dama"e su&ered by the shi#ment is not com#ensable under the #olicy *n the basis of said recommendation, #etitioner denied ()*7s claim10 •

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5etitioner further avers that u#on the re?uest of counsel of ()*, a survey of the shi#ment was conducted on Se#tember 2=, 2@ and 29,19:0 by Conrado Catalan, r of 'anila )d;usters A Surveyors Com#any and he found =,200 ba"s in "ood order condition )t the time of his survey, 23,610 ba"s of the shi#ment had alle"edly already been sold by +U$-.-C* 5etitioner further asserts that on Se#tember 29,19:0, ()* wrote a letter to #etitioner si"nifyin" its willin"ness to abandon the #roceeds of the sale of the 23,610 ba"s and the remainin" "ood order ba"s, but that on *ctober =, 19:0 #etitioner re;ected ()*7s #ro#osed abandonment •

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()* then instituted civil action a"ainst +U$-.-C* andBor herein #etitioner, as defendants $C rendered ;ud"ment in favor of ()* 5etitioner alone a##ealed the said decision and C) aDrmed the trial court decision Eence, #etition

Issue- /+N there is a total loss of the shi#ment el%- es.  $here was actual loss of the "oods insured in this case

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otal lossFUnder Sections 129 and 130 of the New Insurance Code, a total loss may either be actual or constructive In case of total loss in 'arine Insurance, the assured is entitled to recover from the underwriter the whole amount of his subscri#tion .ol 2, )rnould 'ar Ins 9th -d 5 130GH )lso# vs, Commercial Insurance Co cc 'ass I( Case No 2=2, summ G61 It will be recalled that said rice seeds were treated and would "erminate u#on mere contact with water  $he rule is that where the car"o by the #rocess of decom#osition or other chemical a"ency no lon"er remains the same %ind of thin"s as before, an actual total loss has been su&ered