Alexander v. Home Ins.

220 N.W. 525, 53 S.D. 305, 1928 S.D. LEXIS 90
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 14, 1928
DocketFile No. 6020
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 220 N.W. 525 (Alexander v. Home Ins.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alexander v. Home Ins., 220 N.W. 525, 53 S.D. 305, 1928 S.D. LEXIS 90 (S.D. 1928).

Opinion

POLLEY, J.

This action was brought to recover on an insurance policy. The policy was issued on the 14th day of July, 1923, and insured plaintiff against loss or damage by windstorm, cyclone, or tornado. The premium was not paid when the policy was issued, but, in lieu thereof, plaintiff gave defendant his promissory note for the amount of the premium payable on the 1st day of May, 1924. The policy went into effect on the 10th day of August, 1933, and covered a period of three years from that date.

The policy contains the following clause:

“But it is expressly agreed that this company shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may occur to- the property herein mentioned while any promissory note or obligation given for the premium remains past due and unpaid.

On the 1st day of April, 1924, defendant mailed to plaintiff from its office in 'Chicago the following notice:

“J. E. Alexander, Wessington Springs, .South Dakota: Your premium note for insurance under policy No. GF544953 & A359098 in the Home Insurance Company, New York, falls due on the first day of May, 1924. Amount of note, $65.25, amount of interest, $2.48; amount to- be remitted, $68.09. We enclose an addressed envelope in which please return this sheet with the amount due as above stated.
“Please remit promptly, making draft or check payable to the Home Insurance Company, New York.
[307]*307“Your attention is -directed to the back of this notice whereon will be found statement of the conditions relating to payment of the premium.”

-And on the back o-f said notice is the following:

“Conditions Relating to the Payment of the Premium.
“You have the right to either pay the premium as stated in this notice and keep the policy in full force, or to- terminate the insurance by surrendering the policy and paying $28.94, the amount of the short rate earned premium lawfully -due the company as 'of date corresponding with the day of maturity of the premium note.
, ’ “This right of cancellation is -called- to your notice because of a legal requirement of your state, and with no purpose or intention of suggesting that it will be to your interest to- surrender the policy or that the company wishes you- to take that action.
“Also, as required! by law, your attention is. called to- the following condition of your policy, namely, ‘It is expressly agreed that this -company shall not be liable for loss or damage that may occur to the property herein -described while any promissory note or obligation, or part thereof, given for premium, remains past due and unpaid.’ ”

The premium note was not paid when due, nor at all, and it is the contention of the -defendant that, because of the failure tó pay said note, and because o-f the notice sent out, the policy became suspended o-n the 1st day of May, and was not in force on the 14th day of June when the loss occurred.

Section 9191, Co-de 1919, provides that:

“No policy of insurance shall, by virtue of any -condition or provision thereof, be forfeited, suspended or impaired for nom payment of any note or obligation taken for the premium or any part thereof, unless the insurer shall, not less than thirty days prior to the maturity of such premium note or obligation, mail,, postage prepaid, to the assured at his usual postoffice, a notice stating:
“1. The date when such- note or obligation will become -due.
“2. The amount of principal and- interest that will then be due.
“3. The effect upon the policy of nonpayment.
“Such notice shall further inform the insured of his right, at his own election,' either to pay in full -an-d’keep the policy in full force or to terminate the insurance by surrendering the policy and [308]*308paying such part of the whole premium as it shall have earned, and) nnust further state the amount which assured is lawfully required to pay, or which, on account of previous payment, may be 'due him in case of his election to terminate the insurance on the day of the maturity of the premium note or obligation.”

This section of the Code was in force when the policy was issued, and therefore is as much a condition of the policy as though it had been incorporated into the policy itself. Epiphany Roman Catholic Church v. German Insurance Co., 16 S. D. 17, 91 N. W. 332.

The notice above set out was given pursuant to this provision of the law, and it is the contention of the defendant that the notice was sufficient to, and did, suspend liability on the policy. On the other band, it is contended by plaintiff that the notice was insufficient to suspend such liability: Eirst, because it was not mailed to plaintiff 30 days prior to the maturity of the note; and second, because it is not sufficient in substance to comply with the provisions of section 9191. If the second ground is good, the first is immaterial; therefore we shall consider the second ground first.

'Subdivision 31 of section 9191 requires the notice to state the effect upon the policy of the failure to pay the premium note. This it does not do. It states the date of maturity of the note and the amount of principal and interest due. It also explains plaintiff’s option to pay the note and continue the insurance, or to pay the short rate earned premium and terminate the insurance! It also directs plaintiff’s attention to, the condition in the policy providing that there shall be no liability on the policy if the note is not paid when due, but this provision is not self-executing, and can be made effective only by giving the. notice required by section 9191. This question was involved in Epiphany Roman Catholic Church v. German Ins. 'Co., supra, and the notice was held to be insufficient. It is true, as claimed by defendant, that the notice in that case was defective in other respects, and such defects are treated collectively. But failure to state the effect on the policy of a failure to pay the note when due appears to be one of the grounds on which the notice was held to be insufficient. In Schultz v. Des Moines Mut. Ins. Co., 35, S. D. 627, 153 N. W. 884, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 78, we held that a notice that failed to state the effect of nonpayment of the note or obligation upon the policy was not [309]*309sufficient to terminate or suspend liability on the policy. The notice of cancellation provided for in section 9191, in order to- be effective, must be peremptory, explicit, and unconditional. American Fidelity Co. v. Ginsberg Co., 187 Mich. 264, 153 N. W. 709; Marden v. Hotel Owners’ Ins. Co., 85 Iowa 584, 52 N. W. 509, 39 Am. St. Rep. 316.

In Marden v. Hotel Owners’ Ins. Co., 85 Iowa 584, 52 N. W. 509, 39 Am. St. Rep. 316, the Supreme Court of Iowa, considering this precise question, say:

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Farmland Insurance Companies of Des Moines v. Heitmann
498 N.W.2d 620 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
220 N.W. 525, 53 S.D. 305, 1928 S.D. LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alexander-v-home-ins-sd-1928.