Adam v. Columbian National Life Insurance

218 Ill. App. 54, 1920 Ill. App. LEXIS 260
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 21, 1920
DocketGen. No. 24,827
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 218 Ill. App. 54 (Adam v. Columbian National Life Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adam v. Columbian National Life Insurance, 218 Ill. App. 54, 1920 Ill. App. LEXIS 260 (Ill. Ct. App. 1920).

Opinions

Mr. Presiding Justice Thomson

delivered the opinion of the court.

The plaintiff administrator brought this action against the defendant company, seeking to recover the proceeds of a $5,000 policy of life insurance, which had been issued by the company to plaintiff’s intestate. The defendant took the position in the trial court that the policy had lapsed by reason of the failure of the assured to pay an annual premium and that it could only be liable for the paid-up value of the policy on the date said premium was due, with interest from that time, amounting in all to $632.54. The issues were submitted to a jury and they returned a verdict finding the issues for the defendant. Judgment was entered accordingly, from which the plaintiff has perfected this appeal.

The annual premium, amounting to $163, was due on the 6th day of December of each year. On that date in 1911, the premium was not paid. In the following February, the assured gave the defendant his note for the amount of the premium and the defendant gave him a receipt for it reading, “the premium due as set forth below has been settled this day.” The note was dated December 6, 1911, the date the premium was due and was for a period of six months and it recited, “this note is given with the full knowledge and intent on my part that if it is not paid when due without grace, said policy shall become absolutely null and void, subject to the legal conditions contained therein relating to cash value, paid up and extended insurance and in accordance with the conditions of this agreement without further notice.”

On the original trial of this case, the trial court excluded evidence offered by the defendant in explanation of the premium receipt given the assured in February, 1912, and directed a verdict for the plaintiff for the amount of the policy with interest. From the judgment entered on this verdict, the defendant appealed to this court and the judgment was reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial (191 Ill. App. 378). We there held that the court should have admitted the evidence which the defendant sought to introduce and that á receipt, not contained in the policy itself but purporting to acknowledge the payment of a premium other than the first, was merely presumptive evidence of payment and might be contradicted or explained by proof of other relevant facts and circumstances; that where the contract of insurance is already in force and is a continuing contract, requiring periodical payments to keep it alive and prevent forfeiture,^ and a receipt is given merely for the purpose of acknowledging payment of one of these subsequent premiums, a new contract is not thereby created, and there is nothing to prevent the application of the usual rule permitting receipts to be explained or contradicted by parol evidence.

On the retrial of the case the plaintiff made proof of the policy and the premium receipt for the year ending December 6, 1912, which was the receipt given the assured in February, 1912, when he executed the note referred to. Over plaintiff’s objection, the defendant introduced the note and also a health certificate furnished by the assured at the time he executed the note. It was shown that the note was extended a period of 60 days, making it mature August 5, 1912, and that upon such maturity the assured paid nothing on the note. In rebuttal, plaintiff introduced evidence, seeking to prove his contention that the defendant had waived prompt payment of the note and continued to treat the policy as alive and binding. It was shown that under date of August 12, the defendant’s cashier wrote the assured, calling his attention to the fact that his note was due on August 5, and saying, “Kindly let us have your check to cover these items (principal and interest) and oblige.” No attention being paid to this letter, the cashier wrote the assured on September 20, again calling attention to the fact that the note “is still unpaid. As this is over 30 days due, will ask that you kindly fill in the enclosed declaration of good health and return with your remittance, and oblige.” Still the defendant heard nothing from the assured and again, on October 16, the cashier wrote him that his note of $163 “is still unpaid. The amount of interest on same to date is $6.79. Kindly let us have your check for the above amount. ”

It was further shown that it was the practice of defendant to send such premium notes to its home office in Boston when the policy was considered lapsed. Such was not done with the note in question and the policy continued to be carried on the books of the company as a live policy and not as one which had lapsed. The assured died on November 3, 1912, leaving the note unpaid.

These facts are not disputed. The plaintiff claims on the one hand that there was a waiver by defendant of any right it may have had to a forfeiture of the policy and that it had not lapsed but was in full force at the time the assured died and that the trial court erred in denying Ms motion requesting the court to direct the jury to find the issues in Ms favor and assess his damages at the full amount of the policy, and the defendant claims on the other hand, that not only was the verdict right but that the court should not have submitted the issues to the jury but should have directed the jury to return the verdict which it did return on its consideration of the case,—and that this verdict being the only one possible on the facts the judgment should be affirmed, notwithstanding plaintiff’s contentions as to erroneous instructions, in which defendant contends there was no substantial error.

In support of this appeal, plaintiff first makes certain contentions wMch were decided adversely to him upon the former appeal to this court. On those matters that decision is now binding in this case, both upon this court and the parties to the case, and we are precluded from again considering them at this time. People v. Powers, 283 Ill. 438; Warren Land Co. v. Chicago, St. P., M. & O. Ry. Co., 205 Ill. App. 425. These contentions of plaintiff to which we refer are in no way affected by such facts as are presented for the first time in this court, on this appeal.

But the plaintiff makes further contentions that were not involved on the former appeal and which a,re therefore such as this court may now pass upon.

On the first appeal of this case to this court we said that the mere fact that the note (given the defendant by the assured in February, 1912) was not canceled and returned by defendant, when the assured failed to pay it at maturity, could hot be held to be a waiver of the forfeiture of the policy, “if unaccompanied by any other fact or circumstance tending to prove that the company had retained at for the purpose of collecting it as an independent obligation.” In our opimon, the evidence introduced on the retrial of the case shows such facts and circumstances accompanying the retention of this note by the defendant as clearly prove that they did retain it for the purpose of collecting it.

The clause in the policy providing that it would become void for nonpayment of any premium was obviously put there for the benefit of the insurance company. The policy did not ipso facto become void if a premium fell due and was unpaid. In such event the company would have a right to claim a forfeiture of the policy or, if it saw fit, it might waive that right and give the assured further opportunity to pay the premium.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
218 Ill. App. 54, 1920 Ill. App. LEXIS 260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adam-v-columbian-national-life-insurance-illappct-1920.