G.R. No.

L-14300

January 19, 1920

SAN MIGUEL BREWERY, ETC., plaintiff-appellee,

vs.
LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE CO., (LTD.) ET AL., defendants-appellees.
HENRY HARDING, defendant-appellant.
(Reformation of Instruments Basis)(Property was destroyed by fire)
Dunn mortgaged a property to San Miguel Brewery.
Dunn agreed to keep the property insured at his expense so he requested San Miguel Brewery
to effect said insurance.
The general manager of San Miguel Brewery insured the property through Law Union and Rock
Insurance Company.
When asked about the owner of the property,
Brias stated that San Miguel Brewery is only interested as a
mortgagee and no further information on the owner of the property was provided. The policies
were issued in the name of San Miguel Brewery as the assured and contained no reference to
any other party in interest as regards the property.
Can there be reformation of the contract in this case? NO
In order to justify a reformation, it must be made clearly to appear that the minds of the
contracting parties did actually meet in agreement and that they labored under some mutual
error or mistake in respect to the expression of their purpose.
The court held that the court would have the power to reform the contract if it was apparent that
it had been agreed between the contracting parties that the insurance should be so written as to
protect not only the interest of the mortgagee but also the interest of the owner. In this case,
however, it is by no means
that the parties intended for the policy to cover the risk of the owner in addition to that of the
mortgagee.