Aetna Life Insurance Co v. France Et Al

• Decision Date: 01 October 1875
• Citation: 91 U.S. 510,23 L.Ed. 401
• Parties: AETNA LIFE INSURANCE CO. v. FRANCE ET AL
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

91 U.S. 510

23 L.Ed. 401

AETNA LIFE INSURANCE CO. v. FRANCE ET AL.

October Term, 1875

ERROR to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.

Mr. Samuel C. Perkins for the plaintiff in error.

Mr. Nathan H. Sharpless for the defendant in error.

MR. JUSTICE HUNT delivered the opinion of the court.

The action was assumpsit to recover $10,000, the amount of a policy insured upon the life of Andrew J. Chew in July, 1865. The issuing of the policy, the death of Chew, and the service of the necessary proofs of his death, are not seriously disputed.

The policy contained the following clause:——

'And it is also understood and agreed to be the true intent and meaning hereof, that if the proposal, answers, and declaration made by said Andrew J. Chew, and bearing date the twelfth day of July, 1865, and which are hereby made part and parcel of this policy as fully as if herein recited, and upon the faith of which this agreement is made, shall be found in any respect false or fraudulent, then and in such case this policy shall be null and void.'

The issuing of the policy was preceded by a proposal for insurance, which contained a number of questions propounded to Chew by the company, with the answers made by him.

In relation to such questions and answers, the policy contained this clause:——

'It is hereby declared that the above are correct and true answers to the foregoing questions; and it is understood and agreed by the undersigned that the above statements shall form the basis of the contract for insurance, and also that any untrue or fraudulent answers, any suppression of facts in regard to the party's health, or neglect to pay the premium on or before the day it becomes due, shall render the policy null and void, and forfeit all payments made thereon.'

Among others were the following questions and answers; viz.:

'4. Q. Place and date of birth of the party whose life is to be insured?

'A. Born in 1835, interlined (Oct. 28), Gloster County, N. J.

'5. Q. Age next birthday?

'A. Thirty years.

'11. Q. Has the party ever had any of the following diseases? if so, how long, and to what extent?—palsy, dropsy, palpitation, spitting of blood, epilepsy, yellow fever, consumption, rupture, apoplexy, asthma, convulsions, paralysis, bronchitis, disease of the heart, disease of the lungs, insanity, gout, fistula, affection of the brain, fits.

A. None.'

Evidence upon both sides was given as to the age of Chew, tending to show that he was thirty-seven years old, or at least thirty-five years old, when he signed the application, and upon the question of his having suffered from a rupture. Before the case was submitted to the jury, a number of requests to charge were made by the judge, which will be referred to presently.

In its main features, this case bears a close resemblance to that of Jeffries v. Life Ins. Co., decided at the last term of this court. 22 Wall. 47. In that case, as in this, it was insisted that the falsity of a statement made in the application did not vitiate the policy issued upon it, unless the statement so made was material to the risk assumed. The opinion then delivered contains the following language in answer to that claim:——

'The proposition at the foundation of this point is this, that the statements and declaration made in the policy shall be true.

'This stipulation is not expressed to be made as to important or material statements only, or to those supposed to be material, but as to all statements. The statements need not come up to the degree of warranties. They may not be representations even, if this term conveys an idea of an affirmation having any technical character. Statements and declarations is the expression,—what the applicant states, and what the applicant declares. Nothing can be more simple. If he makes any statement in the application, it must be true. If he makes any declaration in the application, it must be true. A faithful performance of this agreement is made an express condition to the existence of a liability on the part of the company.'

This decision is so recent, and so precise in its application, that it is not necessary to go back of it. It is only necessary to reiterate that all the statements contained in the proposal must be true; that the materiality of such statements is removed from the consideration of a court or jury by the agreement of the parties that such statements are absolutely true, and that, if untrue in any respect, the policy shall be void.

The judge was requested to charge,——

5. If the jury believe that the answers to questions Nos. 4 and 5 in the application for insurance, as to the date of birth, and age next birthday, of said Andrew J. Chew, were false and untrue, the policy issued upon the application is void, and their verdict must be for the defendants.

In response to this request, the judge said, 'If the jury believe that the answer to the questions numbered 4 and 5 were materially untrue as to the age of the said Andrew J. Chew, the policy is void, and the verdict must be for the defendants.' The defendants were entitled to the charge they requested, without the addition made by the judge of the word 'materially.' The judge, however, proceeded to say, 'And if he was thirty-seven, or even thirty-five years old, the difference was not immaterial. I give the fifth instruction as requested.'

The process of reasoning by which the learned judge reached his conclusion on this point we have held to be erroneous: viz., that, to make the representation important, it must be material to the risk assumed; that the representation that he was but thirty years old, when he was thirty-seven, or even thirty-five,...