Insurance carried by an engineering firm provided coverage for theft, among other contingencies, of valuable papers and records while being "conveyed outside the insured’s premises and while temporarily within other premises, except for storage." An employee of the insured, on the night before leaving town on a business trip, loaded extensive sets of engineering plans in his automobile to avoid making a trip to his office before departure the following morning. The car was parked at his residence for five hours during the night, and the plans (valuable papers) were stolen.

The question before the Georgia Supreme Court, on appeal from the Georgia Court of Appeals, was whether the papers were "in transit" or "in storage." The appeal court had ruled in favor of the insurance company, concluding that the valuable papers were "in storage" when stolen and were therefore not covered.

The high court opined that the appeal court had given an interpretation to the word "storage" that was too broad. It said that it was definitely not "storage" in the ordinary sense or connotative sense of the word to leave the plans in the car as they were left for five hours to avoid an out-of-the-way office trip.

As a matter of interest, the Georgia Supreme Court said that the appeal court had cited and relied on cases in its opinion that involved losses of money and securities while conveyed by messengers, and policy provision applicable to such loss. The court in one of the cited decisions said that an insured should provide more protection for property valuable to the public at large such as money and securities, than he would for property valuable only to himself.

The high court concluded that the common, everyday connotation of the word "storage" did not include the set of facts before it. It said that judgment for the insurance company would require an interpretation of "in storage" inconsistent with the intent of the parties and that it would work a great hardship on the insured. The appeal court judgment for the insurance company was reversed.

Miller, Stevenson and Steinichen, Inc., v. American Employers Insurance Company. Georgia Supreme Court. No. 32194. Filed May 25, 1977. CCH 1976 Fire and Casualty Cases 1191. (PF&M Court Cases – November, 1977)