Shindler v. Mid-Continent Life Insurance Co.

768 S.W.2d 331, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 342, 1989 WL 13972
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 23, 1989
DocketC14-88-060-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 768 S.W.2d 331 (Shindler v. Mid-Continent Life 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
Shindler v. Mid-Continent Life Insurance Co., 768 S.W.2d 331, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 342, 1989 WL 13972 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

MURPHY, Justice.

Appeal is from a summary judgment granted in favor of appellees. Appellants sued insurer and agent for failing to give notice of the status of life insurance policies and representing that the policies were in effect when they had expired due to non-payment of premiums. We affirm.

In May 1980 appellant James Shindler bought two insurance policies from appel-lee Mid-Continent Life Insurance Company [hereinafter Mid-Continent] through appel-lee agent, Compensation Systems, Inc. [hereinafter Compensation], Each policy was to pay $1,175,000 upon the death of James Shindler. The policies, by their terms, required annual premium payments and each policy stated that it would expire if the premiums were not paid within thirty days of their due date:

PREMIUMS
(d) Grace Period. A grace period of thirty-one days will be allowed for payment of a premium in default ...
(e) Termination. If a premium remains unpaid at the end of the grace period, this policy is then terminated.

The summary judgment proof shows that while Shindler paid the annual premiums at the time of issue, no subsequent annual premiums were ever paid and the policies terminated for non-payment of premiums in June 1981.

In March 1984 James Shindler discovered he had cancer. At that time, he inquired and learned that the two Mid-Continent life insurance policies had expired for non-payment of premiums. Shindler demanded reinstatement of the policies. When Mid-Continent refused, Shindler and family members brought suit against Mid-Conti *333 nent and agent Compensation alleging a breach of duty to inform of premiums due and policy cancellation. In addition, appellants sued for misrepresentation alleging that through certain correspondence, appel-lees represented that the policies were still in effect when they had terminated due to non-payment of premiums. The trial judge granted summary judgment in favor of both appellees.

A summary judgment is proper only when a movant establishes that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that he or she is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Swilley v. Hughes, 488 S.W.2d 64, 67 (Tex.1972); Tex.R.Civ.P. 166-A. In reviewing a summary judgment, every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the non-movant and any doubts resolved in his favor. Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., Inc., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985). Proof favoring the movant’s position should not be considered unless it is uncontroverted. Great Am. Reserve Ins. Co. v. San Antonio Plumbing Supply Co., 391 S.W.2d 41, 47 (Tex.1965).

INSURER’S DUTY TO INFORM

Appellants allege Mid-Continent had a duty to give notice of premiums due and policy termination. However, Appellants have cited us no case, nor have we found any, where an insurer was held to have a duty to inform the insured of the status of a life insurance policy. On the contrary, Texas courts have held unequivocally that, absent policy provisions, life insurers have no legal duty to give notice of premiums due. Guardian Life Ins. Co. v. Turquette, 460 S.W.2d 534, 536 (Tex.Civ.App.—Waco, 1970, writ ref’d n.r.e.) (no duty to give notice as a matter of law); Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Eilers, 367 S.W.2d 732, 736 (Tex.Civ.App.—Waco, 1963, writ ref’d) (no duty as a matter of law). Likewise, no duty exists to give notice that the policy has lapsed. Cantu v. Southern Life & Health Ins. Co., 360 S.W.2d 812, 813 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1962, no writ). We have examined the policies in question and find no provisions that would require the insurer to give notice of premiums due or policy termination.

Appellants have cited Kitching v. Zamora, 695 S.W.2d 553 (Tex.1985) in support of Mid-Continent’s duty to give notice. Kitching however, imposes a duty on agents to give notice in certain situations. That case has no application to an insurer. We also note that the Texas Insurance Code, which regulates and specifies the various duties of life insurance companies, makes no mention of a life insurer’s duty to notify an insured of premiums due.

We hold that absent policy provisions, Mid-Continent had no duty as a matter of law to inform appellants of premiums due or termination of life insurance policies.

AGENT’S DUTY TO INFORM

Appellants also allege agent Compensation had a duty to inform of premiums due and rely on Kitching v. Zamora, supra, in support of their argument. In Kitching, an agent was held liable for failing to notify an insured of premiums due. In that case, there was proof that the agent had received numerous statements from the insurer asking it to forward the information to the insured. In the present case, appellants allege that agent Compensation received notice of premiums due from the insurer and therefore, had a duty to pass the information on to the insured.

In reviewing a summary judgment, the appellate court may consider only the proof on file before the trial court at the time of the summary judgment hearing. Gandara v. Novasad, 752 S.W.2d 740, 743 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1988, no writ). In the present case, the summary judgment proof presented by appellees establishes that Compensation at no time received any notices of cancellation, expiration, premiums due or premium past due notices pertaining to appellant’s policies.

In support of their contention that a fact issue was raised as to whether Compensation received notice of premiums due, appellants cite the following excerpt from the deposition of Carol Jablonski, an employee of Mid-Continent:

*334 Q. Is there any notification as far as a lapse notice or a late payment offer that would go to the agent in addition to the policy holder?
A. Yes.
Q. What goes to the agent in the way of any of these notifications, please?
A. The copy of the late payment offer and a copy of the lapse notice.
Q. Is it your belief and understanding that the process here at Mid-Continent [sic] that was also true in the time frame of 1980 and 1981?
A. As far as I know, (emphasis added)

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Bluebook (online)
768 S.W.2d 331, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 342, 1989 WL 13972, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shindler-v-mid-continent-life-insurance-co-texapp-1989.