Goods Awaiting Loading Were In Transit' Rules Appeal Court
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AN award of £222 damages was made by the Court of Appeal on Monday to Crows Transport Ltd., of Newcastle, for breach of contract in respect of a "goods in transit" insurance policy issued to them by Phoenix Assurance Co. Ltd., of London.
_ The court allowed, with costs, the Newcastle company's appeal against a decision of Judge Sharp at Gateshead County Court on June 16 last year in favour of the insurers.
The trial judge held that when seven cartons of gramophone records, which had been delivered by Decca Record Co. Ltd. to the hauliers' London office for transport to the north, were stolen, they were not "in transit" under the terms of the insurance policy.
Lord Denning (Master of the Rolls), Lord Justice Danckwerts and Lord Justice Salmon, disagreed with the finding.
Lord Denning said that under the policy, the insurers agreed to indemnify the insured against all risks of loss Of damage to general merchandise in transit by the insurees' vehicles, including subcontractors and their hauliers, while being loaded upon, carried by, or unloaded from the said vehicles, anywhere within Great Britain and whilst temporarily housed during the course of transit
whether on or off the said vehicles.
It was quite clear that these goods were in the custody and control of the insured, but they were not being loaded, carried or unloaded upon the insurees' vehicles. The whole question Was whether or not they were 'temporarily housed" during the course of transit. They were clearly temporarily housed, but was it during the course of transit?
The trial judge ruled that it was not— that the course of transit did not come into effect until some step was taken by the appellant towards loading the goods onto one of, the company's own or its sub-contractor's or haulier's vehicles.
It seemed to his Lordship, however, that from the moment the appellant took the goods from Decca they were being temporarily housed, awaiting loading on the appellant's own vehicles. That was incidental to transit by these vehicles which, in his Lordship's opinion, amounted to "in transit" per appellant's vehicles.
The policy, said Lord Denning, covered the goods from the moment the appellant accepted them for carriage from Decca and while they, were there, temporarily housed, awaiting loading.
Leave to appeal to the House of Lords was refused.