INSURANCE. 



\\rf, unlefs general (denoting loflcs arifing from any caufe 

 MHtr tlie geiieval fafety of the fhip and cargo), or the 

 I .) be ftranded : fugar, tobacco, hemp, flax, hides and 

 lluiis art warranted free from average, under i^ per cent., and 

 all other goods, alfo the (liip and freight, are warranted 

 free from average, nnder 3 per cent, unlefs general, or the 

 fhip be ftranded." In 1754 the two companies, wz. thofc 

 of the London and Royal Exchange affurance left out the 

 \vordci, "or the (hip be ftranded ;'' but private underwriters 

 have continued tliem. If any lofs or damage happen to the 

 goods, from any fault or defeft of the ftiip, the owner has 

 his remedy againft the proprietors of the (liip, and the in- 

 furer is not liable ; becaufe, in every contrail of infurance, 

 there is an implied warranty, that the ftiip is fea-worthy : if 

 otherwife, the contract is void. In many cafes the mafter alfo 

 is liable. The marine law, with which agrees the common 

 law of England, confiders the owners, as well as the mafter, 

 as common carriers, and anfvverable for all loffes, except fuch 

 as arife from the S.&. of God, the king's enemies, or the pe- 

 rils of the fea. In order to charge the infurer, the lofs muft 

 happen in the courfe of the voyage, and during the continuance 

 of the rifk. In our policies the words ufually employed 

 to exprefs the commencement and end of the rifiis on goods 

 are thefe : " Beginning the adventure upon the faid goods 

 and merchandizeyroOT the loading thereof aboard the fa':d Jhip, 

 and fo {hall continue and endure until the faid (hip with the 



faid goods fhall be arrived at (her port of delivery), 



and until the fame be difcharged and fafely landed." This 

 rule, however, admits of fome exceptions, which our hmits 

 will not allow us to enumerate. The duration of the riHc on 

 the fhip varies with us in almoft every cafe. In outward- 

 bound voyages it is generally made to commence from her 

 beginning to load at her port of departure. Ships engaged 

 in the coafting-trade, or in ftiort voyages, are infured for a 

 limited period of time ; and in fuch cafes, the rifle commences 

 and ends with the term, wherever the fhip may then happen 

 to be. If a fiiip be infured/rom the port of London to any 

 other port, and before (he breaks ground, an accident happen 

 to her, the infurers are not anfwerable ; for the riilc does not 

 commence till (he fets fail on her departure from the port 

 of London : but if the infurance be " at and frotn" the port 

 of London, the infurers are liable for any accident that 

 may happen to her, *' from the time of fubfcribing the po- 

 licy."' When a (liip, in homeward voyages, expefted to 

 arrive at a certain place abroad, is infured " at and from" 

 that place, or from her arrival there, the rifli begins 

 from the firft moment of her arrival at the place fpciified ; 

 and the words "■ frfl arrival'' are implied, and always 

 underftood in policies fo worded. As to the termina- 

 tion of the rifle on Englifli policies, it is ufually made to 

 continue only " until the Jhip hath moored at anchor 24 hours in 

 good fafety '' The rifle on the furniture, the rigging and 

 tackle, and provifions of the (hip, may continue even when 

 put on (hore. With infurers, a liberty to touch and ftay at 

 any ports and places, means ports and places in the ufual 

 courfe of the voyage. This liberty to touch and ftay at 

 any ports or places, does not authorize the infured to break 

 bulk and trade. Although a fhip, through neceffity, change 

 the order of the places at which (he is to touch, yet if (he 

 do not abandon the original voyage, the rifle continues. In 

 an infurance upon freight, the rifle generally begins from the 

 time the goods are put on board. If an accident happen to 

 the (hip before any goods are put on board, which prevents 

 her from failing, the infured cannot recover for the lols of 

 freight, v.'hich the ftiip might have earned if the accident 

 kad not happened. But if part of the cargo be put on 



board, and the reft be ready to be Ihipped, the infured may 

 recover for the whole freight, upon a valued policy. (See 

 Policy.) If a ftiip be loft in her way to her port of load- 

 ing, the ipifurer is liable for the whole freight. 



If, after the infurance is eftcfted, any thing be done by 

 the infured to alter the nature of the rifk, this muft be 

 done with the confent of the infurer, otherwife it will 

 avoid the contraft. 



Infurances may likewife be made on goods fent by 

 land, or by hoys. Sec. on rivers ; and this is frequently 

 done, more efpecially on jewels, and other things of great 

 value. They may likewife be made on ftiips and goods, 

 lolt or not loft, which is commonly done when a ftiip ha» 

 been long miffing ; and thofe words being inferted in the 

 policy, oblige the underwriters to p.iy, though the ftiip 

 was loft at the time of making fuch infurance, except the 

 affured had then certain knowledge of the fliip's being 

 wrecked ; in which cafe the fubfcription {liall not oblige, 

 as this is accounted a mere fraud. So likewife if a perfon 

 get more infured than the ftiip is worth, with a villainous 

 defign to deftroy her, this fraudulent ai-t \vill not oblige the 

 infurers, but expofe the proprietors to fuffer death for their 

 knavery. An infurance made on prohibited goods is illegal 

 and void, unlefs they were not prohibited till after the in- 

 furance was made. The infurance of feamen's wages is 

 prohibited in all maritime countries ; and by the law of 

 England fuch infurance is unqueftionably illegal. But they 

 may infure goods purchafed abroad with their wages ; and 

 the captain is allowed to infure goods which he has on 

 board, or his (hare in the ftiip, if he be a part-owner. By 

 the law of France, the infurance of freight, not adiually 

 earned, is prohibited ; but in England the freight, as well 

 as the fhip, may be legally infured. To entitle the owner, 

 however, to recover for a lofs on a policy for freight, it 

 muft appear, that, before the lofs, the owner's right to 

 freight had commenced ; that is, that the fhip had actually 

 begun to earn freight, for till that time the rifle on freight 

 does not commence. Although it is not unufual in England 

 to infure profit, the queftion whether this be a proper fub- 

 jeft of infurance has never yet come under folemn difcuflion. 

 Where the policy exprefsly mentions that the fhip is to de- 

 part with convoy, it is intended that ftie ftiall, if poffible, 

 keep with the convoy during the voyage, and if fhe depart 

 wilfully from the convoy, it is a fraud ; but if having de- 

 parted with the convoy, fhe by ftrefs of weather loies the 

 convoy, and is taken, the infurers are liable. (See AVar- 

 RANTY.) If there be thieves on board among themfelvcs, 

 the mafter of the (hip is to anfwer for that, and not the in- 

 furers ; for though the words of the policy infure againft 

 loffes by thieves, yet affaihng or external thieves are only 

 here intended, and for external theft the infurer as well as 

 the owner of the fhip is liable ; but the proprietor of the 

 goods, or the infurers in his name, may recover againft the 

 owners. An infurance made in a foreign country, may be 

 fued in England by the common law, if the infurers come 

 here. Where the policy is againft reftraint of princes, that 

 does not extend to a navigation carried on againft the la\T 

 of nations, or where there (hall be a feizure for not paying- 

 of culloms or the Hke. If goods be infured as the good* 

 of an ally, when they are the goods of an enemy, it is a 

 fraud, and the infurance not good. . If a man pays money 

 on a policy of infurance, fuppofing a lofs where there wa» 

 none, this fliall be money received for the ufe of the infurer, 

 for which he may maintain an aftion. A fupprefTion of the 

 truth, or a falfe allegation, is fuificient to difcharge the 

 policy ; for it is a general rule, that the infured ought to 



iulorib 



