Hatcher v. MDOW Insurance Co., No. 17-2410 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment in an action filed by plaintiff, seeking additional insurance benefits for smoke and fire damage at his home. The court held that plaintiff's policy was an actual-cash-value policy, and that plaintiff was not entitled to relief on his evidentiary claim. In this case, plaintiff failed to show that the district court admonished the jury to disregard his testimony, he did not otherwise make an offer of proof as to what additional testimony he sought to provide, and he failed to provide a transcript of the final day of trial.
Court Description: Melloy, Author, with Benton and Grasz, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Insurance. The district court did not err in finding that the evidence was overwhelming that the insurance policy on plaintiff's property included an actual-cash-value endorsement;if this provision in the applicable 2015 policy was a change to the prior policy, plaintiff had adequate notice of the change and his premium for the 2015 policy served as consideration; plaintiff could testify as to the value of his home, and by extension, depreciation over the period of time between its construction and his fire loss; the district court's ruling in a sidebar sustaining defendant's objection to the testimony was not communicated to the jury and it was never admonished to disregard the evidence; as a result, even if the court's ruling in the sidebar was erroneous, it caused plaintiff no harm; in any event, plaintiff has failed to provide the court with a transcript of the final day of trial, and the issue cannot be reviewed.
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