Stebbins v. Department of Commerce

499 P.2d 350, 10 Or. App. 54, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 765
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJuly 7, 1972
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 499 P.2d 350 (Stebbins v. Department of Commerce) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stebbins v. Department of Commerce, 499 P.2d 350, 10 Or. App. 54, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 765 (Or. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

SCHWAB, C.J.

The State Insurance Commissioner determined that petitioner, an insurance salesman, had violated an Insurance Division rule and ordered that he cease and desist from such conduct. Petitioner sought review in the circuit court, which affirmed the Commissioner. Petitioner has further appealed, urging that the Commissioner’s finding is not supported by substantial evidence and that the Commissioner’s decision is invalid due to a variety of procedural errors.

In September of 1969, a Mr. Schlosser contacted petitioner in regard to surrendering two life insurance policies for their cash value. Petitioner advised Mr. Schlosser to purchase a new $50,000 policy. Mr. Schlosser agreed to do so, and petitioner prepared the necessary application form. According to Division rules, prior to permitting Mr. Schlosser to sign the application, petitioner should have given him a statement which compared the cost, coverage and other features of his new policy with the same information concerning the two policies he was surrendering (hereinafter referred to as a “comparison statement”).

■ Specifically, the relevant Insurance Division replacement rules provide:

“* * * [N]o person shall replace, or offer or propose to replace, existing life insurance without complying with the provisions of this Rule.” OAR 836-80-010.
“* * * ‘Replace’ * * * includes any transaction under which new life insurance is to be purchased and existing life insurance is to be # * * surrendered • * * ” OAR 836-80-005(1).
“Each life insurance agent shall: (1) Obtain from the applicant for each life insurance policy an [57]*57answer to the [following] question * # OAR 836-80-025.
“ ‘Do you intend the replacement or change of any of your existing life insurance policies in connection with this application for new life insurance?’ ” OAR 836-80-020(3).
“Each life insurance agent shall: * * *
“(2) If such answer is ‘yes’, give the applicant prior to his signing the policy application a completed [comparison statement as described above] * * *;and
“(3) Submit a copy of the [comparison statement] * * * to the insurer with the policy application.” OAR 836-80-025.

There is no dispute as to the fact that as a part of the September 1969 transaction petitioner failed to give Mr. Schlosser a comparison statement and failed to forward a copy thereof to the insurer with Mr. Schlosser’s application.

In January of 1970, for reasons not germane to the questions here presented, Mr. Schlosser wrote the Division making certain complaints about petitioner. Although Mr. Schlosser withdrew his complaints about a month later, the Division proceeded to investigate petitioner’s failure to prepare the required comparison statement during the September 1969 transaction.

As a result of this investigation, on October 21, 1970, the Commissioner entered the following Cease and Desist Order against petitioner:

“That on or about September 2, 1969, William M. Stebbins did advise Charles M. Schlosser of Portland, Oregon, to surrender two ordinary life insurance policies then in force, and did take appli[58]*58cation for and cause to be issued a life insurance policy as a replacement thereof without leaving with the policyholder a written, signed, and dated statement which fully and correctly compared the terms, conditions and benefits of the existing policies to the proposed policy as required by OAR 836-80-005 to OAR 836-80-030.
“Such act constitutes a violation of ORS 746.085 and OAR 836-80-005 to OAR 836-80-030.
“II
“YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED to cease and desist from the practices set out in the statement of charges above and any other conduct which is injurious to the public.

Petitioner then requested an administrative hearing on these charges, which was held December 8,1970. The Insurance Commissioner affirmed the portion of the Cease and Desist Order concerning petitioner’s failure to prepare a comparison statement. He also found:

“No evidence appears of further violation on the part of the respondent, however, and the cease and desist order will therefore be modified by deleting the phrase ‘and any other conduct which is injurious to the public’ * *

Our review of the Commissioner’s findings is limited to the question of whether they are supported by substantial evidence. Wright v. Bateson, 5 Or App 628, 485 P2d 641, Sup Ct review denied (1971), cert denied 405 US 930 (1972). Prom petitioner’s own admission that he never prepared the comparison statement required by the above-quoted rules it seems obvious there is substantial evidence to support the Commissioner’s finding of a violation of those rules.

[59]*59Petitioner resists this conclusion by arguing the rules only apply when an agent urges an applicant to purchase new insurance and surrender his existing insurance. While it is true the word, “urged,” does appear at one point in the Division’s insurance replacement rules,

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Related

Gates v. Department of Motor Vehicles
94 Cal. App. 3d 921 (California Court of Appeal, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
499 P.2d 350, 10 Or. App. 54, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 765, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stebbins-v-department-of-commerce-orctapp-1972.