Albany Insurance Co. v. Anh Thi Kieu
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
927 F.2d 882, 1991 AMC 2211 (1991)

- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
Anh Thi Kieu (Anh) (defendant) was a Vietnamese immigrant and Texas resident who owned a fishing boat, the F/V Stacy Marie. Anh completed an application for insurance coverage for the vessel with the Albany Insurance Company (Albany) (plaintiff). The application was in English, and Anh made several inaccurate statements on the document. Albany issued the policy and, despite ample opportunity to uncover the inaccuracies in the application, continued coverage under the policy. The Stacy Marie collided with an offshore platform and was damaged. Albany’s adjustors surveyed the damage and recommended that Albany deny all liability. Albany filed a declaratory-judgment action in federal district court seeking to establish Anh’s rights under the policy. The district court applied Texas state law and determined that Anh was entitled to approximately $90,000 in damages. Albany appealed, alleging that the court should have applied federal law, particularly the rule of uberrimae fidei, which invalidates any agreement upon a party’s material misrepresentations.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Johnson, J.)
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