Geddes & Smith, Inc. v. St. Paul Mercury Indemnity Co

In Geddes & Smith, Inc. v. St. Paul Mercury Indemnity Co. (1959) 51 Cal.2d 558, the Supreme Court faced a similar problem-- an insurance policy which did not define the word "accident" but which limited its coverage to damages "caused by accident." (Id. at p. 563.) The court explained: "No all-inclusive definition of the word 'accident' can be given. It has been defined 'as "a casualty--something out of the usual course of events and which happens suddenly and unexpectedly and without design of the person injured." ' It '"includes any event which takes place without the foresight or expectation of the person acted upon or affected by the event."' 'Accident, as a source and cause of damage to property, within the terms of an accident policy, is an unexpected, unforeseen, or undesigned happening or consequence from either a known or an unknown cause.'" (Id. at pp. 563-564.)