Union Service Co. v. Lyons

240 S.W.2d 153, 241 Mo. App. 611, 1951 Mo. App. LEXIS 341
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 14, 1951
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 240 S.W.2d 153 (Union Service Co. v. Lyons) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Union Service Co. v. Lyons, 240 S.W.2d 153, 241 Mo. App. 611, 1951 Mo. App. LEXIS 341 (Mo. Ct. App. 1951).

Opinions

McDOWELL, J.

This is an action on a promissory note. The suit was filed in Newton County, Missouri, October 6, 1949, and transferred, on change of venue, to Stone County, where it was tried March 16, 1950, by a jury, resulting in verdict and judgment for defendant. From this judgment plaintiff appealed.

Plaintiff’s amended petition alleges that the defendant executed a promissory note April 11, 1949, payable to George G. Harrison and Marion J. Phillips, in the sum of $652.10, bearing interest from date at the rate of six per cent per annum; that plaintiff purchased the note from payees for value; that by the terms of the note payment was to be made September 15, 1949.

The petition states the note was due at the time of suit and no part had been paid except a credit of $54.50, shown by a notation on the face of the note by striking the figure $652.10 in the upper left hand corner and inserting the figure $597.60; that payment had been demanded but no part thereof had been paid. Plaintiff prays judgment for $597.60 and interest in the sum of $17.94 to October 11,1949, and interest to date.

The answer to the amended petition denies the execution of the note and in the alternative pleads fraud in the securing of defendant’s signature. It denies plaintiff is an innocent purchaser or holder for [616]*616value. The answer pleads affirmatively that the payees in the note falsely represented that the policies of insurance so sold were income or investment policies and would pay interest at the rate of 2y%°/o to the policy holder. The amended answer pleads that the payees represented that, under the contract terms and provisions of the policy, after one year had expired, the same could be surrendered and the amount paid in by the subscriber would be returned to the defendant with interest at the rate of 2% %; that, believing and relying upon the representations _ made by the payees, defendant signed a written instrument designated as an application for insurance which application was filled out by the payees of the note and was composed of fine print which defendant was unable to read and was not permitted to read. The answer then pleads that Phillips and Harrison, payees in the note, delivered defendant two policies of insurance in the amount of $5,000.00 each, which policies were for life insurance only and did not provide for income disability and did not provide for interest at the rate of 2%% and had no provision for surrender after a period of one year wherein defendant could secure the return of premiums paid with interest at 2%%; that the policies were delivered to defendant without opportunity to read the same; that defendant is an uneducated man and was, at the time of the delivery, unable to read and understand the provisions of said policies of insurance, which facts were known to the payees of said note; and that defendant trusted, believed and relied upon the representations of said payees in all respects.

The answer pleads that the agents, Phillips and Harrison, payees in the note, represented to defendant that no premiums would fall due on said policies of insurance until the 15th day of September, 1949. It then pleads that all the statements and representations made by the payees in said note were false, fraudulent and untrue; that the policies of insurance were not as represented.

The answer pleads want of consideration for said note.

We will refer to the parties in this opinion as plaintiff and defendant as they were in the lower court.

Plaintiff, in this appeal, under its points and authorities, claims, under assignment of error No. I that the trial court erred in refusing to direct a verdict for the plaintiff at the close of all the evidence and that the verdict and judgment was for the wrong party.

Under this heading plaintiff makes three .contentions numbered (A), (B) and (C).

Under contention (A) plaintiff states that under the law and the facts in the case it was a bona fide purchaser for value of the note in question and that the alleged misrepresentations relied upon by defendant in his answer would not defeat recovery upon the note.

Under assignment (B) plaintiff states that the defense is based upon false representation alleged to have been made by agents of the [617]*617Union National Life Insurance Company as to provisions contained in policies of life insurance and that the court erred in permitting testimony because the statements made, if such were made by the agents, were with reference to something "to happen in the future and said representations do not relate to past or existing facts.

Under (C) plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in failing to direct a verdict because it was necessary for the defendant to prove all the elements of actionable fraud in setting' fraudulent representations up as a defense which he failed to do.

Plaintiff’s assignment of error II complained that the trial court erred in giving Instruction No. II requested by the defendant. Under this allegation of error plaintiff says that the instruction is based upon the defense of fraudulent representation and that it should have required the jury to find that the defendant relied upon these representations to his injury and that such representations were material. Plaintiff contends the instruction fails to so require.

We will make a brief statement of the facts and then supplement them under the heading of each issue passed upon.

The plaintiff is a Nebraska corporation with offices in Topeka, Kansas, and its principal business is the purchase of negotiable instruments at a discount. The note sued on in this case was given by the defendant to the agents of the Union National Life Insurance Company of Lincoln, Nebraska, in payment for the premiums on two life insurance policies of $5,000.00 each. George Harrison and Marion Phillips of Joplin, Missouri, were licensed insurance agents representing the Union National Life Insurance Company. These agents made five trips to the home of defendant relative to the selling of the insurance in question. The first trip was made in March 1949. On this trip defendant testified that he got in the car with the agents and that they represented to him that their company did not have an expense of advertising like other companies but loaned out its money at 6% interest and, for that reason, was able to pay policyholders 2y2 %. He stated they represented the investment was better than the banks, which only paid 2 % ; that these agents again came to his home on April 11, 1949, and at this time he was in his berry patch with two other fellows; he stated the agents asked him what he was going to do about taking out insurance and stated about the same facts as they had stated to him in March; that they told him that, after he had signed the application, if he did not want the insurance he could forget about it and throw the papers in the wastebasket and then he used these words, “So I let him go ahead and write me up as to my ability. So he wrote me up and then he asked me to sign it.” The witness testified that they told him he would draw 2y2% interest on whatever he paid in but he stated they did not say anything at that time about cashing the policy out. Defendant testified that he wanted to take out the insurance more for [618]

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Bluebook (online)
240 S.W.2d 153, 241 Mo. App. 611, 1951 Mo. App. LEXIS 341, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/union-service-co-v-lyons-moctapp-1951.