McBride v. Acme Industrial Life Ins. Soc.

154 So. 741, 179 La. 701, 1934 La. LEXIS 1428
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMarch 26, 1934
DocketNo. 32668.
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 154 So. 741 (McBride v. Acme Industrial Life Ins. Soc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McBride v. Acme Industrial Life Ins. Soc., 154 So. 741, 179 La. 701, 1934 La. LEXIS 1428 (La. 1934).

Opinion

ODOM, Justice.

Plaintiff is the beneficiary under an industrial life insurance policy on the life of George McBride. The policy was issued on September 19, 1932, and he died on November 19 of that year; the cause of death being cancer of the stomach. The insurance company refused to pay the amount of the policy to the beneficiary and she brought suit. The defense urged by the company was that, at the time the deceased made application for the policy, he warranted that he was in good health, and that it was discovered after the issuance of the policy that at the time he made the application he was afflicted with the disease which caused his death.

*703 There was judgment in favor of plaintiff as prayed for, and the insurance company appealed to the Orleans Court of Appeal. The judgment was affirmed. The defendant applied to this court for writs, which were granted, and the case is before us now for review.

There is in the record an agreed statement of facts, which shows that the disease from which the insured died was contracted prior to the date on which the policy was issued, but that he may have been unaware of that fact. It shows further that the insured was not examined by a physician on behalf of the defendant company prior to the issuance of the policy, and further that no copy of the application for insurance signed by the insured was attached to the policy.

This statement was put into the record merely to show what could have been proved on trial. But plaintiff, in agreeing to the statement, reserved'the right to object to the admissibility of any and all testimony relative to the condition of the insured’s health at the time of the issuance of the policy and especially to the admissibility of what, if any, statement the deceased made with reference to his health in the application for the insurance signed by him, and to the introduction in evidence of the application, a copy of the same not having been attached to the policy.

When the case came on for trial, plaintiff objected to all such testimony. This objection was sustained, and there was judgment for plaintiff.

It is conceded that, if the provisions of Act No/ 52 of 1906, as amended and re-enacted by Act No. 227 of 1916, and Act No. 97 of 1908 apply to insurance policies of this kind, the judgment is correct. Defendant, however, grounds its defense upon the proposition that the provisions of those statutes do not apply to industrial life insurance, which is authorized, defined, and regulated by Act No. 65 of 1906, a special act which, it is argued, places such insurance in a class by itself. The reason suggested why the acts of 1908 and 1916 do not apply to industrial life insurance is that neither of them mentions such insurance and section 7, Act No. 65 of 190‘6, provides that “no law, hereafter passed, shall be held or deemed to refer to the business of industrial life insurance unless the same is expressly referred to in said law.”

It is doubtful whether any consideration whatever should be given section 7, Act No. 65 of 1906, for the reason that the subject-matter thereof is not mentioned in the title to the act. The object of the act as expressed in its title is to define and regulate the business of industrial life-insurance; to provide the manner in which corporations, societies, etc., shall be authorized to do business in this state; to provide for the making of a deposit with the treasurer and the amount thereof; provided that foreign corporations, associations, etc., which have made, sufficient deposit in the state in which they are incorporated or sufficient deposit in any other state, shall not be required to make deposit in this state; and fixing penalties for the violation of the act and repealing all laws in conflict with it.

No one reading the title would suspect that a provision like that contained in section 7 would be found in the body of the act. It is probable that for this reason the Legislatures of 1908 and 1916 overlooked this most *705 unusual provision. The bench and bar of the state seem to have overlooked it. Numerous cases involving industrial life insurance and policies issued by such companies have been before the Courts of Appeal and before this court, and, so far as the reported cases show, the court’s attention was never directed to this section of the statute until the case of Jackson v. Unity Industrial Life Ins. Co. was brought before the Orleans Court of Appeal in May 1932. 142 So. 207.

Acts No. 97 of 1908 and No. 227 of 1916 are general laws which express the policy of the state with reference to insurance and insurance policies, and in express terms they refer to life insurance companies and policies generally. The act of 1908 refers to “life, health and accident insurance companies,” and the act of 1916 to “life'insurance policies.” The companies authorized by Act No. 65 of 1906 are “life insurance companies,” and the policies issued by them are “life insurance policies.” We have no doubt that it was intended that the provisions of these acts should apply to industrial life insurance companies and the policies issued by them.

Act No. 65 of 1906 itself shows that the Legislature did not intend to exempt industrial life insurance companies from the general laws of the state governing life, health, and accident insurance companies, for in section 2 it is specifically provided that all corporations, societies, relief organizations, etc., “issuing policies or benefit certificates and carrying on their business in the manner and within the meaning and definition set forth in Section 1 of this Act, shall be held and deemed to be doing an industrial life insurance business and shall be subject to this Act, and all the other laws of this State, not repugnant to this Act, regulating the business of life, health and accident insurance in this State” (Italics' ours.)

There is nothing in Act No. 97 of 1908 or Act No. 227 of 1916 repugnant to Act No. 65 of 1906. The Legislature of 1906 adopted Act No. 115, p. 182, to provide for the “organization, admission and regulation of associations transacting the business of life, accident, sick benefit, or physical disability insurance on the fraternal plan.” (Italics ours.)

Section 4 of that act provides “that, except as herein provided, such association shall be governed by this Act and shall be exempt from all provisions of the insurance laws of this State." (Italics ours.)

Section 4 of this act was amended by Act No. 256 of 1912 so as to provide:

“That except as herein provided, such societies shall be governed by this Act, and shall be exempt from all provisions of the insurance laws of this State, not only in governmental relations with the State, but for every other purpose” (Italics ours.)

Section 4 of both the original act and the act as amended contain the additional clause that “no law hereafter passed shall apply to them, unless they be expressly designated therein.”

This clause corresponds to section 7 of Act No. 65 of 1906. Counsel for the insurance company and several attorneys who filed briefs as amici curies argue that the Legislature, by inserting section 7-in Act No.

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Bluebook (online)
154 So. 741, 179 La. 701, 1934 La. LEXIS 1428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcbride-v-acme-industrial-life-ins-soc-la-1934.