“…I think that there would be no justice or principle in setting off an amount which the plaintiff has entitled himself to under a contract of insurance, such as any prudent man would make on the principle of, as the expression is, “laying by for a rainy day”
“As regards moneys coming to the plaintiff under a contract of insurance, I think that the real and substantial reason for disregarding them is that the plaintiff has bought them and that it would be unjust and unreasonable to hold that the money which he prudently spent on premiums and the benefit from it should enure to the benefit of the tortfeasor”. ” “…I think that there would be no justice or principle in setting off an amount which the plaintiff has entitled himself to under a contract of insurance, such as any prudent man would make on the principle of, as the expression is, “laying by for a rainy day”
“that it would be startling to the subscribers to that fund if they were to be told that their contributions were really made in ease and for the benefit of the negligent railway company. To this last submission I would only add that if the proposition contended for by the defendants is sound the inevitable consequence in the case of future disasters of a similar character would be that the springs of private charity would be found to be largely if not entirely dried up.” 14. A number of the subsequent cases in which the scope of, and reasons for, the exception have been discussed were not benevolence exception cases. Nevertheless, they contain dicta of the highest authority. In Parry, the issue was whether a disablement pension fell to be taken into account in the assessment of the plaintiff’s financial loss. At p 13H, Lord Reid said of the benevolence and insurance exceptions that “the common law has treated this matter as one depending on justice, reasonableness and public policy”