Shelter Mutual Insurance Company, Appellant v. Michael Goodner and Robbie Goodner, Appellees

Summary

The court affirmed summary judgment for the insureds, holding that labor may not be depreciated when calculating actual cash value under an indemnity insurance policy, even when the policy expressly defines actual cash value to include labor depreciation. The court reasoned that depreciating labor violates established principles of indemnity and Arkansas public policy, and that the policy language could not authorize a term contrary to Arkansas law. Justice Wood, dissenting, would have held that the express policy language controlled and that invalidating the term improperly created public policy in the absence of legislation.