Industrial Life Insurance Co. v. Finley

374 S.W.2d 947, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2252
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 23, 1964
DocketNo. 10
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 374 S.W.2d 947 (Industrial Life Insurance Co. v. Finley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Industrial Life Insurance Co. v. Finley, 374 S.W.2d 947, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2252 (Tex. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

DUNAGAN, Chief Justice.

Robert D. Finley, Jr., as plaintiff, sued Industrial Life Insurance Company, as defendant, for contingent commissions as a life insurance agent under a written contract. Defendant, Industrial Life Insurance Company, answered pleading accord and satisfaction, compromise and settlement and release as well as that no commissions were due under the provisions of the contract after it was terminated no premiums being received by Industrial during any six month’s period following termination.

Both plaintiff, Finley, and defendant, Industrial Life Insurance Company, filed motions for summary judgment. The 68th District Court sustained plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and entered summary judgment for the plaintiff, Robert D. Finley, Jr. The court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment.

The defendant, Industrial Life Insurance Company (appellant in this court), has appealed from the court’s judgment sustaining plaintiff’s motion (appellee in this court) for summary judgment.

Industrial Life Insurance Company of Dallas, Texas, entered into an agency agreement with Robert D. Finley, Jr., dated July 9, 1958, appointing Finley as its agent and representative for the purpose of soliciting insurance on the lives of debtors of financial institutions and dealers located in and near Midland, Texas, on the terms and conditions contained in said agency agreement. That pursuant to the terms of such contract, plaintiff was to receive 50% of the net premiums on life and health and accident insurance written by him, and further was to receive contingent commissions in accordance with the formula set forth in such contract; that on or about the 3rd day of April, 1959, such contract was amended to provide that agent should receive 55% of all premiums written on life insurance in accordance with written amendments to such contract; that on or about the 1st day of August, 1959, said contract was further amended by written amendment providing that plaintiff should receive a guaranteed commission of 55% of all accident and health premiums written pursuant to such contract and making certain changes in the formula for computing contingent commissions reading as follows:

“The contingency provision of the Agency Agreement will be amended to the effect that effective the first month that the net Life and Accident & Health combined premiums equal $1,500.00 per month, the company retention will be lowered to 13% which will become effective at the end of the 12 month period from this date provided the total net premiums for the 12 month period equals $18,000.00.
“The other provisions of this Agency Agreement remain the same.”

There would be no useful purpose served by copying herein the full agreement. Only the following portion of the agreement is pertinent to the dispute between the parties as brought forward in this lawsuit.

“The agent will collect credit life and accident and health premiums ac[949]*949cording to company rate charts No. 700 and No. 710.
“The agent will be entitled to receive a flat guaranteed commission of 50% of the net credit life and accident and health premiums collected and reported each month. In addition the agent will be entitled to receive a contingent commission which will be computed according to the following formula at the end of each twelve month period for which premiums are received under this agreement. The total amount of earned premiums, calculated on a monthly pro rata basis, will be determined through IBM computations. Thereafter the following deductions will be made from the calculated earned premiums: 50% of the net written life and accident and health premiums already paid to the agent; 15% of the net written premiums to be deducted for Industrial’s retention figure; all losses incurred during the twelve month period. If there is any remaining amount of earned premium, then all of the remaining amount will be paid to the agent in the form of a contingent commission.
“It is agreed that in the event the guaranteed commission paid the agent, and the amount of incurred losses during the year are such that Industrial does not receive its retention figure, then the deficit amount will be carried forward to the following year and will serve as a deduction in computing the contingent commission due the agent that year. This deficit formula will continue on a year to year basis until Industrial receives it’s 15% retention figure each year. However, in no way will it affect the guaranteed 50% commission paid the agent on a net written premium basis.
“At the request of the agent the company hereby agrees to.compute the contingent commission due, if any, according to the above formula every six months that premiums are received under this agency agreement.”

The above portion of the contract of course is subject to the amendments thereto as stated above.

Appellee Finley in his original petition alleges that under the terms of such contract defendant was required and obligated to furnish the plaintiff each six months from and after July 9, 1958 a statement in writing showing a computation of the contingent commissions due to plaintiff under the terms of such contract; that defendant furnished to plaintiff such computation as required by said contract through and including the period ending December 31, 1960, but has failed and refused to furnish any accounting or computation of the contingent commissions due to plaintiff under the terms of such contract since such time; that without such computation plaintiff does not have records from which the exact amount of contingent commissions due to plaintiff under the terms of such contract can be computed, but plaintiff, on information and belief, and so believing alleges the facts to be that defendant is indebted to the plaintiff in the sum of $18,000.00 for contingent commissions due under the terms of the contract.

In plaintiff’s first supplemental petition, paragraph 4 thereof, he alleges that subsequent to the filing of the original petition he has received from defendant a statement covering all premiums received by defendant on policies written by plaintiff from the inception of the contract, to and including September 30, 1962; that such statement shows that all premiums on policies written by plaintiff have been duly earned as of such date, and after deducting all losses paid and the 15% and 13% retentions, respectively, to be received by defendant under the terms of such contract and the contingent commission paid to plaintiff in the amount of $814.52, there remains due and payable to plaintiff under the terms of such contract the sum of $9,835.62.

[950]*950Thereafter, Robert D. Finley, Jr., filed his motion for summary judgment and grounds therefor as relied upon as set forth in his original and supplemental petitions, said motion alleging further that the pleadings and exhibits on file show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and he is entitled to judgment for full recovery upon such claim against defendant as a matter of law.

Industrial Life Insurance Company filed its answer to said motion for summary judgment. Also, on the same date Industrial Life Insurance Company filed its motion for summary judgment and attached thereto was affidavit of W. C. Hassard, Treasurer and Chief Accounting Officer of Industrial Life Insurance Company, affidavit of James W.

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Related

Industrial Life Insurance Company v. Finley
382 S.W.2d 100 (Texas Supreme Court, 1964)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
374 S.W.2d 947, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2252, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/industrial-life-insurance-co-v-finley-texapp-1964.