The Marine Insurance Company of Alexandria v. John and James H. Tucker was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1806. The dispute arose when the Tuckers, two merchants from Philadelphia, purchased insurance on their cargo ship which had been damaged while at sea. The insurer refused to pay out for the damages as they argued that it was caused by an act of God rather than any negligence or fault on behalf of either party involved in the voyage. In its ruling, the court held that since there were no witnesses to prove otherwise, it could not be determined whether or not this incident occurred due to natural causes or human error; therefore, both parties must bear responsibility for any losses incurred during transit regardless of who is ultimately found liable for them. This decision established a precedent whereby insurers are obligated to cover damages even if they cannot definitively determine how those damages occurred so long as there is no evidence pointing towards intentional wrongdoing on either side's part

In The Marine Insurance Company of Alexandria v. John and James H. Tucker, the dissenting opinion argued that the insurance company should not be able to recover damages from the Tuckers for a loss they sustained due to their own negligence in failing to properly secure their cargo on board a vessel owned by them. The dissent maintained that while it was true that an insurer is entitled to indemnity against any person who has caused or contributed towards its loss, this principle did not apply here because there had been no fault or neglect on behalf of either John or James H. Tucker; rather, it was solely attributable to the captain's failure in his duty as master of the ship and owner's representative aboard her at sea. Furthermore, since neither party had intended nor expected such an event would occur when entering into their contract with each other - which provided only for payment if goods were lost through some act of God - then no liability could attach itself upon either side in this case.