C&J Fertilizer, Inc. v. Allied Mutual Insurance Co.

1975

Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Facts: Insurance contract, trying to protect against claims arising from inside jobs, requires that there be visible signs of a break-in. Some skilled burglars enter without leaving a trace on the building itself, and steal stuff. To the astonishment of the plaintiff and his insurance agent, the claim is denied.

Posture: Judgment for the defendant at trial.

Issue: Is this definition of "burglary" enforceable?

Holding: Reversed and remanded.

Rule: If non-dickered terms are counter-intuitive, it can't be said that the parties agreed to them.

Reasoning: If a term is re-defined so as to eviscerate its meaning, it should not be considered part of the contract unless the parties are explicitly doing things that way.

Dicta: Dissent: this wasn't "fine print:" the plaintiff just wants the court to re-write the contract in his favor. The court has no business using this case as a springboard to announce general rules-- the goal should just be to deal with this particular dispute.