Parrish v. Washington National Insurance Co.

421 S.W.2d 117, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2805
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 20, 1967
DocketNo. 16858
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 421 S.W.2d 117 (Parrish v. Washington National Insurance Co.) 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
Parrish v. Washington National Insurance Co., 421 S.W.2d 117, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2805 (Tex. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

RENFRO, Justice.

On December 22, 1957, James M. Parrish entered into a written agreement styled “Commission and Personal Production Bonus Agreement” with Washington National Insurance Company.

The agreement provided for installation of a group insurance plan on a school system unit basis within the geographical area covered by District V of the Texas State Teachers Association. The Group Policy was numbered J2745. A supplemental agreement was entered into on January 6, 1959, and a modified “Amendment to Commission and Personal Production Bonus Agreement” was executed by the parties on November 25, 1960. James M. Parrish died on March 7, 1965.

On September 14, 1965, Robert B. Parrish, administrator of the estate of James M. Parrish, deceased, sued Washington National Insurance Company to recover commissions collected by defendant after the death of James M. Parrish. It was the administrator’s position that commissions were due the estate as long as Group Policy No. J2745 remained in force.

Defendant filed a lengthy motion for summary judgment, to which was attached all three written agreements heretofore mentioned.

The court also had before it interrogatories and affidavits on file in the case. The motion set out several separate and distinct grounds for judgment. In a short form judgment the court found: “It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed: 1 Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is in all things granted, * *

The appellant administrator contends the court erred in rendering summary judgment for defendant because (1) the contract, as amended, granted decedent the right to commissions as long as Group Policy No. J2745 remained in force; (2) because such ruling constitutes the declaration of a forfeiture not provided for in the contract; and (3) the contract is ambiguous and susceptible to more than one construction, one of which would be in favor of appellant.

[119]*119The defendant answered the points of error by the following counterpoints:

1. “The trial court was correct in granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment because the contract specifically denies the right to renewal commissions upon proper termination of the agency or upon cessation of the agency relationship, both of which occurred as a matter of law.
“(a) No renewal commissions are due appellant, decedent’s representative, because the contract was terminated by appellee for ‘just cause’, which term is specifically defined in the contract. The agent, being dead, could not meet the specific requirements contained in the contract and appellee therefore had just cause for termination by contractual definition.
“(b) No renewal commissions are due appellant in any event because no right to renewal commissions can exist, as a matter of law, unless the contract provides such right to the agent after the termination of the agency relationship; the contract clearly contains no such provision.
“(c) No renewal commissions are due appellant because appellee had the unilateral right to terminate the payment of renewal commissions for just cause in its opinion; the death of the agent furnished such just cause as a matter of law, apart from the specific definitions of just cause.”
2. “The trial court simply enforced the terms of the contract and did not declare a forfeiture; the contract and record before this court is clear and unambiguous, and there is no room for further evidence; the trial court, on many independent grounds, was correct as a matter of law.”

We sustain the counterpoints and affirm the trial court’s judgment in favor of defendant.

The original contract of December 22, 1957, provided:

“The Company agrees to pay commissions to the Agent in accordance with the following Commission Table on the total adjusted earned premium for the following group insurance contract, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained: Group Policy No. J 2745 (District No. V, Texas State Teachers Association). Commission Rates Applicable to Premiums for: First Certificate year 10% Renewal Certificate Year 5%.
“8. The Agent will submit all personally produced business under Master Policy No. J 2745 through the Company’s Group Office in Dallas, Texas.
“The Agent further understands and agrees that:
“1. The Company reserves the right to decline to renew said group insurance contract.
“2. The Company agrees to pay commissions for said group contract during the first policy year and during subsequent renewal policy years while said contract is in force at the rate specified in the Commission Table so long as: (a) The Agent is acceptable to and recognized as an Agent of Record by the holder of the group contract; (b) The Agent complies with applicable laws and rulings of state insurance departments; (c) The Agent complies with the rules and regulations of the Company; and (d) The Agent is actively engaged in the promotion of the Group Plan issued to Texas State Teachers Association District V.
“3. The commissions under the Commission Table are to be the total commissions payable to the Agent, and if it is found necessary by the Agent to employ the services of assistants, subagents, or other persons in order to properly service the business and maintain it in force, the expense so incurred will be deducted from the commissions otherwise payable hereunder, provided howev[120]*120er that any persons so employed by the Agent must be acceptable to the Company and to the policyholder.”

The supplemental agreement of January 6, 1959, pertains to bonus and is not in issue in this case.

The last and final “Amendment to Commission and Personal Production Bonus Agreement” is here reproduced in toto:

“The Commission and Personal Production Bonus Agreement dated December 22, 1957, between Washington National Insurance Company, Evanston, Illinois, and James M. Parrish, as amended by the Supplemental Agreement dated January 6, 1959, between the same parties, is hereby amended in the following particulars.
“Effective September 1, 1960, the commission rate applicable to premiums for the first certificate year is reduced to 5%, except that the first year premiums on business which became effective prior to September 1, 1960, shall continue to earn commissions at the rate of 10% for the balance of the first certificate year.
“The last paragraph on the second page of said agreement, identified as paragraph 2 and describing the conditions under which the Company agreed to continue the payment of commissions, is made null and void, and effective September 1, 1960, the following is substituted therefor:
“2.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
421 S.W.2d 117, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2805, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parrish-v-washington-national-insurance-co-texapp-1967.