In the Matter of McCrary

112 N.C. App. 161, 435 S.E.2d 359 (1993)

 

Background

Petitioner sought insurance coverage for her beach house on Topsail Beach. Subsequent to petitioner’s submission of her insurance application to the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (Association) and the Association’s acceptance of her property by the North as an insurable risk, the property was destroyed by fire. After the fire, petitioner filed an insurance claim. On the basis of discrepancies between petitioner’s representations and the actual condition of the house at the time the insurance application was submitted, the Association voided petitioner’s insurance coverage ab initio for false and material representations. Petitioner appealed to the Commissioner of Insurance, who upheld the Association’s actions. Petitioner then appealed to the Superior Court, which affirmed the Commissioner’s decision.

Relevancy for School Disciplinary Hearings

Articulating a reviewing court’s application of the “whole record” test when petitioner contends that decision of an agency — e.g., local school board — was unsupported by the evidence or was arbitrary or capricious.

Held

“The ‘whole record’ test does not allow the reviewing court (here, the superior court) to substitute its judgment for the agency’s as between two reasonably conflicting views, even though the court could justifiably have reached a different result had the matter been before it de novo. However, it does require the court to take into account both the evidence justifying the agency’s decision and the contradictory evidence from which a different result could be reached. Pursuant to this standard, all the competent evidence is to be examined for a determination of whether the administrative agency’s decision is supported by substantial evidence. Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion and is more than a scintilla or a permissible inference. If, after all the record has been reviewed, substantial evidence supports the agency’s ruling, then the agency’s ruling must stand.” 112 N.C. App. at 167-68, 435 S.E.2d at 364-65 (internal citations omitted).