The Columbian Insurance Company of Alexandria brought a case against Ashby and Stribling in the Supreme Court. The insurance company had issued a policy to insure goods shipped from New York to Richmond, Virginia on board the schooner “Fanny”. During transit, the ship was captured by an enemy vessel and all cargo lost. The defendants argued that they were not liable for any losses as their contract with the shipper did not include coverage for such risks; however, the court found in favor of Columbian Insurance Company stating that under maritime law it was obligated to cover all perils unless specifically excluded from its policy. This decision established precedent which still stands today: insurers are responsible for covering all risks unless explicitly stated otherwise in their policies.

In The Columbian Insurance Company of Alexandria v. Ashby and Stribling, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a policy issued by an insurance company could be voided due to a breach of warranty in the policy itself. In this case, the defendants had purchased fire insurance from plaintiff's company for their property but failed to disclose that there were two other policies on the same property with different companies. Justice Story wrote a dissenting opinion arguing that while it is true that warranties are important parts of contracts, they should not be used as grounds for voiding them entirely when only minor breaches occur or when those breaches do not affect any material part of the contract. He argued further that if such strict enforcement were allowed then parties would have no incentive whatsoever to enter into contracts since even small mistakes could lead to complete invalidation and forfeiture of all rights under said contract.