G.R. No. 78860, 28 May 1990, 208 SCRA 487

FACTS:

Milagros Cayas was the registered owner of a Mazda bus, insured with Perla Compania de Seguros, Inc. (PCSI)under a policy issued on February 3, 1978. The bus encountered an accident. One victim sued while the othersentered into a settlement. He won P32, 000. Cayas filed a complaint for a sum of money and damages againstPCSI in the Court of First Instance of Cavite. The court eventually dismissed. She filed a MFR. She filed a motionto declare PCSI in default for its failure to file an answer. The court ordered ordering PCSI to pay Cayas P50, 000 as compensation. PCSI appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the lower court’s decision. Its motion for reconsideration having been denied, PCSI filed this petition.

ISSUE:

Whether PCSI’s liability is limited only to the payment made by private respondent to the victim and only up to the amount of P12, 000 or not

HELD:

Yes, petition dismissed.

The insurance policy involved explicitly limits petitioner’s liability to P12, 000 per personand to P50, 000 per accident.
Stokes vs. Malayan – terms of the contract constitute the measure of the insurer’s liability andcompliance is a condition precedent to the insured’s right of recovery from the insurer.
The insurance policy placed liability for all damages arising out of death or bodily injury sustained by one personas a result of any one accident at P12, 000.
Section 377 of Presidential Decree No. 612, which provided that the liability of land transportationvehicle operators for bodily injuries sustained by a passenger arising out of the use of their vehicles shallnot be less than P12, 000.
Minimum liability is P12, 000 per passenger. Not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or publicpolicy, said stipulation must be upheld as effective, valid and binding as between the parties. In like manner, werule as valid and binding upon private respondent the condition requiring her to secure the written permissionof petitioner before effecting any payment in settlement of any claim against her. This was designed tosafeguard the insurer’s interest against collusion between the insured and the claimants.It being specifically required that petitioner’s written consent be first secured before any payment in settlementof any claim could be made. Cayas is precluded from seeking reimbursement of the payments made to the threeother passengers in view of her failure to comply with the condition contained in the insurance policy. Clearly,the fundamental principle that contracts are respected as the law between the contracting parties finds application in the present case.
In Phil. American General Insurance Co., Inc vs. Mutuc
that contracts which are the privatelaws of the contracting parties should be fulfilled according to the literal sense of their stipulations, iftheir terms are clear and leave no room for doubt as to the intention of the contracting parties, forcontracts are obligatory, no matter what form they may be, whenever the essential requisites for theirvalidity are present.
Although Milagros Cayas was able to prove a total loss of only P44, 000, petitioner was made liable for theamount of P50, 000, the maximum liability. This was wrong. An insurance indemnity, being merely an assistanceor restitution insofar as can be fairly ascertained, cannot be availed of by any accident victim or claimant as aninstrument of enrichment.

*Case Digest by : Karl Bation