Denton v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Co.

323 So. 2d 17, 1975 Fla. App. LEXIS 18873
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedDecember 3, 1975
DocketX-375
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 323 So. 2d 17 (Denton v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Denton v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., 323 So. 2d 17, 1975 Fla. App. LEXIS 18873 (Fla. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

323 So.2d 17 (1975)

Johnny L. DENTON, Appellant,
v.
CONNECTICUT GENERAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY and Keller Industries, Inc., Appellees.

No. X-375.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

December 3, 1975.

*19 R.K. Roberson, DeLand, for appellant.

R. David Ayers, Jr. and Janis M. Halker, Orlando, for appellee Connecticut General Life Ins. Co.

Patricia C. Fawsett, Orlando, for appellee Keller Ind., Inc.

SMITH, Judge.

Plaintiff appeals from final judgments entered for the two defendants in this action concerning $5,000 in life insurance benefits provided by an employees' group policy issued by defendant Connecticut General Life Insurance Company to defendant Keller Industries, Inc. Keller employed Thomas Denton, plaintiff's father, until seven weeks before he died of cancer on July 28, 1972. The trial judge held that Denton's insurance coverage ended no later than July 1 and entered summary judgment for Connecticut General. The court also finally dismissed plaintiff's action against Keller because of the insufficiency of plaintiff's fourth amended complaint, asserting Keller's liability for failing to remit insurance premiums on June 1, 1972, or for otherwise cancelling Denton's insurance, and for failing to advise Denton of the change in his insurance status and of the availability of conversion privileges upon the cessation of his employment.

By its group policy furnished to Keller, Connecticut General required Keller to remit, on the first day of each month, a premium calculated by multiplying a stated rate times the number of employees insured on that date. The policy also required Keller's employees to contribute unspecified amounts toward the cost of the insurance through wage withholdings authorized by payroll deduction orders. Keller withheld $2.28 from Denton's wages each weekly payday for that purpose and remitted the accumulated contributions *20 from him and all employees, together with whatever additional amount Keller paid to make up the total premium, on or before the first day of each month.

Denton, a 61 year-old laborer at Keller's cabinetmaking facility in DeLand, was evidently totally disabled by cancer continuously after May 15, 1972, his last day at work. His last weekly wages were paid on Friday, May 19, when Keller withheld, for the third time in May, $2.28 for Denton's insurance. Keller remitted those May withholdings to Connecticut General before June 1 as part of a single gross premium due that date for insurance covering all insured employees. On June 9, Keller's manager filled out a personnel and payroll change card which recorded the termination of Denton's employment effective that date "due to health reasons." At a time not shown by the evidence, an unidentified Keller employee marked on Denton's group insurance and record card that Denton's insurance terminated on June 9, 1972. Denton died on July 28. Claim was made for the death benefits, which Connecticut General denied on grounds that Denton's employment and his insurance terminated before his death.

The group policy held by Keller and the certificate of insurance issued to Denton provide for automatic termination of the employee's insurance on the earliest of four dates, of which three are pertinent:

"1. the date the Employee ceases to be in a Class of Eligible Employees or ceases to qualify as an Employee;
"2. the last day of the period for which the Employee has made the required contribution, if any, toward the cost of the insurance;
......
"4. the date of termination of employment. Termination of Active Service will be considered termination of employment, and the insurance will be discontinued, except as provided below.
......
"INJURY OR SICKNESS. If an Employee's Active Service terminates because of injury or sickness, the insurance will be continued, during the period the Employee remains totally and continuously disabled as a result of the injury or sickness, until the date on which the Policyholder [Keller] ceases to pay premiums for the Employee or otherwise cancels the insurance."

The principal question before the trial court on the summary judgment motions of both plaintiff and Connecticut General was whether, notwithstanding the quoted termination clauses, Denton's insurance coverage extended to within 31 days of his death on July 28. If so, he was covered at his death by operation of a provision for a 31-day period, beginning with the termination of his group coverage, in which he could convert his group coverage to an indivdual policy without evidence of insurability. Sec. 627.566, F.S. 1973. The policy provided:

"PAYMENT DURING THE 31-DAY CONVERSION PERIOD. If an employee dies during the 31-day period in which he is entitled to convert his insurance to an individual policy, whether or not application for the individual policy or payment of the first premium has been made, the Insurance Company will pay to the beneficiary designated under the group policy the amount of group life insurance which the employee was entitled to convert, and no payment will be made under any individual policy that may have been issued."

Connecticut General's motion for summary judgment was supported by the affidavit of Keller's group insurance supervisor, who stated that the May 19 deduction from Denton's wages "was for payment of premium for insurance coverage for the period from 5/13/72 thru 5/19 72", that employee withholdings were remitted to Connecticut General at the end of May "for accounting purposes only, not to extend *21 the time of coverage or pay the premium in advance," and that the Keller pay ment remitted before June 1 "included the premium covering Mr. Denton thru the period from May 1 thru May 19, and did not extend the coverage beyond that date."

Entering summary judgment for Connecticut General, the trial court stated that the May 19 deduction from his wages "was for the week of May 13, 1972, through May 19, 1972" and:

"[A]llowing for the thirty-one day conversion period from which Mr. Denton could have converted his Group Coverage Policy to an Individual Policy ... this extension, if taken from June 1, 1972, would only allow the conversion period through July 1, 1972."

Connecticut General offers support for the summary judgment based on terminating clause 2, which was evidently invoked by the trial court, and, alternatively, terminating clauses 1 and 4, above quoted. We will examine those clauses in order:

"1. the date the Employee ceases to be in a Class of Eligible Employees or ceases to qualify as an Employee;"

To give effect to Connecticut General's assertion that termination clause 1 automatically and unconditionally ended Denton's coverage on June 9, 1972, because Keller then terminated his employment, would render the application of clause 4 impossible in every situation to which it and the benefits of its exceptions would otherwise apply. We decline to adopt such a draconian interpretation of the policy. Clause 1, to have an effect in circumstances other than those to which clause 4 applies, necessarily refers to the termination of insurance for the employee whose employment continues but who ceases to be in a class eligible for insurance, or who is no longer a "permanent employee," as the policy defines the term Employee, or who cancels his payroll deduction order.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
323 So. 2d 17, 1975 Fla. App. LEXIS 18873, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/denton-v-connecticut-general-life-insurance-co-fladistctapp-1975.