Consideration for Promises by a Gratuitous Bailee

Abstract

The New York Court of Appeals has just held in Siegel v. Spear & Co. (1923) 68 N. Y. L. Jour. 1847, that a gratuitous bailee is bound to pay damages for breach of his promise to effect insurance on the articles in his care. The plaintiff was a purchaser of furniture on the installment plan, the defendant being the seller with a chattel mortgage as security. For the convenience of the plaintiff, the defendant undertook to store the furniture free of charge during the summer and promised to have it insured for the plaintiff's benefit, the cost thereof to be paid later by the plaintiff. The furniture was burned without having been insured.