Marine v. Allstate Insurance Company

469 P.2d 121, 12 Ariz. App. 229, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 618
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMay 14, 1970
Docket2 CA-CIV 768
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 469 P.2d 121 (Marine v. Allstate Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marine v. Allstate Insurance Company, 469 P.2d 121, 12 Ariz. App. 229, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 618 (Ark. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinions

HOWARD, Chief Judge.

The appellant filed suit against the ap-pellee to recover disability income benefits allegedly due under a policy of insurance issued by the appellee. The appellee coun[230]*230terclaimed for rescission. At the trial of the action, counsel stipulated that all instructions be waived and that the jury be merely asked for answers to two interrogatories.1 The jury answered the interrogatories in favor of the appellant. The appellee moved for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and after a hearing on that motion, the court granted the same entering judgment in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiff.

The pertinent facts are as follows: On November 11, 1963, Richard Esch, an insurance salesman for Allstate Insurance Company, solicited the appellant for the purpose of selling him an income protection policy. This policy provided certain monthly income benefits in case of disability due to accident or sickness. Mr. Esch had had previous dealings with the appellant in the way of automobile insurance. An insurance application was filled out by Mr. Esch in response to questions posed to Mr. Marine and signed by the appellant. The application contained above the signature of the appellant the following statement:

“All of the foregoing statements and answers are complete and true and were read by me and I understand and agree that: a) they shall form the basis for any contract of insurance that may be issued; b) insurance, if issued, will be effective on the date stated in the policy; c) sickness which first manifests itself within 30 days after the policy’s effective date will not be covered.”

At the time of the signing of the application of insurance appellant had been diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis. Appellant did not know that he had “multiple” sclerosis, but did know that a doctor in California had told him that he had “diffused sclerosis”. Appellant maintains that he told Mr. Esch about the diagnosis of “diffused” sclerosis when he was filling out the application and that he also informed Mr. Esch of the fact that he had seen doctors in California and had been hospitalized one day in California while they performed a myelogram. Esch claims that the appellant never gave him this information.

The first knowledge that the appellant ever had, according to his testimony, that he had multiple sclerosis was when he was told this in 1965 by a Tucson doctor. In the latter part of 1965 the appellant became unable to work and in early 1966 he made out a claim statement on the policy.

The appellant’s questions for review in essence revolve around the issue as to whether or not the appellant is excused from the rule set forth in Greber v. Equitable Life Assur. Soc. of United States, 43 Ariz. 1, 28 P.2d 817 (1934), for the reason that truthful answers are an exception to the rule stated in that case.

The general rule is that the insured is bound by misstatements appearing in an application attached to the policy delivered to and retained by him. Greber v. Equitable Life Assur. Soc. of United States, supra; Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice § 9405 ; 7 Couch on Insurance § 35.211 (2nd Ed.). The reason for the rule as expressed in Greber is that the insured has the opportunity of examination and is under a duty to read over his application attached to the policy and correct any errors in the application. Does the fact that the insured gave truthful answers which are incorrectly recorded on the application by the insurance agent change the operation of the general rule? We think not. In 1954 our legislature enacted A.R.S. § 20-1108. It states:

“A. No application for the issuance of any life or disability insurance policy or contract shall be admissible in evidence in any action relative to such policy or contract, unless a true copy of the application was attached to or otherwise made a part of the policy when [231]*231issued and delivered. This provision shall not apply to industrial life insurance policies.”

Jurisdictions which had applied the doctrine of equitable estoppel prior to the enactment of such a statute have refused to do so since the enactment of a comparable statute. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Alterovitz,2 214 Ind. 186, 14 N.E.2d 570 (1938); Gillan v. Equitable Life Assur. Soc., 143 Neb. 647, 10 N.W.2d 693 (1943); Minsker v. John Hancock Mut. Life Ins. Co., 254 N.Y. 333, 173 N.E. 4 (1930); Comer v. World Insurance Company, 212 Or. 105, 131, 318 P.2d 916 (1957); Reserve Life Insurance Company v. Howell, 225 Or. 71, 357 P.2d 400 (1960). They state as grounds for their position that the statute involves the parol evidence rule, or, as in Comer, on the basis that the statute charges the insured with notice of the contents of the application thus, making it the duty of the insured to speak up or be es-topped to deny the answers in the application.3

There are cases holding to the contrary.4 In John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Schwarzer, 354 Mass. 327, 237 N.E.2d 50 (1968), the Massachusetts Supreme Court allowed the insured to recover stating:

“We recognize that the limitation here applied upon the rule that one accepting a contract is bound by all its terms, in alleviating the overreaching of applicants, also risks fraudulent imposition by applicants upon insurers. The control, however, of this sort of imposition, either on the applicant or the insurer, lies to a substantial extent within the insurer’s power in the modification of procedures for obtaining and submitting applications.”

Although there may be merit to the view expressed above, our Greber case quotes with approval and relies upon the Minsker case.5 Whether the basis be the parol evidence rule or the estoppel doctrine espoused by Comer, the appellant was foreclosed from questioning the correctness of his application.

Appellant claims that A.R.S. § 20-1109 requires actual fraud. This statute provides:

“All statements and descriptions in any application for an insurance policy or in negotiations therefor, by or in behalf of the insured, shall be deemed to be representations and not warranties. Misrepresentations, omissions, concealment of facts and incorrect statements shall not prevent a recovery under the polic3 unless:
1. Fraudulent.
2. Material either to the acceptance of the risk, or to the hazard assumed by the insurer.
3.

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Marine v. Allstate Insurance Company
469 P.2d 121 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
469 P.2d 121, 12 Ariz. App. 229, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 618, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marine-v-allstate-insurance-company-arizctapp-1970.