Bajwa v. Metro. Life Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 13 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. 1-01-0844.,1-01-0844.
• Parties: Khalid J. BAJWA, the Administrator of the Estate of Muhammad Cheema, a/k/a Manwar Ahmand Bajwa, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, and Muhammad U. Cheema; Unnamed Accomplices, of Muhammad U. Cheema; and Imtiaz Sheik, Insurance Agent for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

776 N.E.2d 609

333 Ill. App.3d 558

267 Ill.Dec. 237

Khalid J. BAJWA, the Administrator of the Estate of Muhammad Cheema, a/k/a Manwar Ahmand Bajwa, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, and Muhammad U. Cheema; Unnamed Accomplices, of Muhammad U. Cheema; and Imtiaz Sheik, Insurance Agent for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellee.

No. 1-01-0844.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Second Division.

August 13, 2002.

Rehearing Denied September 23, 2002.

Corboy & Demetrio, Chicago (David C. Wise, of counsel), for Appellants.

Joseph J. Hasman, David F. Schmidt, Peterson & Ross, Chicago, for Appellees.

Justice GORDON delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Khalid J. Bajwa (plaintiff), administrator of the estate of Muhammad Cheema, brought a wrongful death action against Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (defendant or Met Life) alleging that Met Life's negligent issuance of an insurance policy on the life of Muhammad Cheema (decedent), designating Muhammad U. Cheema (Cheema) as the policy beneficiary, proximately caused the decedent's death. Plaintiffs fourth amended complaint, which is the subject of the instant appeal, contained four separate counts of negligence against Met Life.¹ The trial court granted defendant's motion to dismiss counts IV through VI of plaintiffs complaint, and also granted defendant's motion for summary judgment on count VII.² Plaintiff now appeals the trial court's judgments. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.

BACKGROUND

In December 1992, Cheema approached Imtiaz Sheik (Sheik), a Met Life account representative, and filled out an application for a life insurance policy on the life of the decedent. Cheema, whose name is nearly identical to the decedent's, represented himself as the decedent's son and provided Sheik with personal information about the decedent necessary for the policy application. Cheema also designated himself as the beneficiary of the policy and arranged for the policy premiums to be automatically deducted from his bank account, but listed the decedent as the "owner" of the policy on the application. Cheema then told Sheik that he would take the application to his "father" and obtain his "father's" signature, and Sheik agreed to this arrangement even though Met Life company procedure required that an insurance agent personally meet with the insured and witness the insured sign the policy application. Cheema returned the application to Sheik with a signature bearing the decedent's name. Although plaintiff asserts that Cheema forged the decedent's signature on the application, there is no evidence in the record which affirmatively refutes or supports this assertion. The record does, however, provide evidence which indicates that much of the information provided by Cheema on the policy application was incorrect. For example, the decedent's home address, occupation, years of employment, annual income, current insurance status and medical information were misstated. Further, the application wrongly indicated that Cheema was the decedent's son.

As part of the application process, the insured was required to submit to a medical examination conducted by EMSI, a paramedical company hired by Met Life. An individual who identified himself as the decedent was examined by EMSI in relation to the instant policy application. The individual, whom plaintiff now asserts was not the decedent, produced a State of Illinois identification card which identified him as the decedent. A Met Life investigator contacted the Secretary of State's office and confirmed that an identification card was issued to an individual with the same name as the decedent. Notably, the individual examined by the EMSI paramedic was listed in the report as standing 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 195 pounds. At the time of his death, less than a year after the paramedical examination, the decedent stood 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 213 pounds.

The insurance application in question, including the parts containing the paramedical examiner's certification, were submitted to a Met Life underwriter prior to issuance of the policy. The underwriter noticed anomalies in the policy application which required further investigation. Specifically, the underwriter questioned why Cheema, rather than the insured's wife, was the policy beneficiary and why the beneficiary, rather than the insured, was paying the monthly policy premiums. The underwriter also questioned why the policy amount was $200,000 when the decedent's income, pursuant to Met Life financial guidelines, qualified him for a policy in the amount of $150,000. The underwriter confronted Sheik with these discrepancies and was told that the son was the beneficiary because the wife lived in Pakistan and foreign beneficiaries were discouraged by the company. Sheik also advised the underwriter that, despite information in the application suggesting otherwise, the insured would be paying the policy premiums with some assistance from his son. Sheik also explained that the increase in the policy amount was necessary because the decedent was supporting his wife and children in Pakistan and would be buried in Pakistan upon his death. Based on these explanations, the underwriter decided that the application was acceptable and issued the policy. The underwriter never asked Sheik if he personally met with the decedent. Notably, the policy application indicated, albeit dishonestly, that Sheikh had properly met with the decedent and certified the signing of the insurance application.

A policy insuring the life of the decedent in the amount of $200,000 was issued in January 1993. A note in the record indicates that, on February 19, 1993, an individual purporting to be the insured called Met Life four times with questions concerning potential coverage on possible death claims relating to the decedent's policy. Met Life's notations concerning these calls revealed that the caller asked whether the policy would pay if he was injured in a car accident in another country, returned to this country and then died. The caller was advised that an affirmative response could not be given because different factors would influence the decision to pay on the policy. Another notation indicated that a call was received wherein the caller asked "detailed questions about if he goes to Pakistan and dies will we [Met Life] pay the claim." The notation further indicated that the caller "had specific hypothetical situations that he wanted to know if we would pay or not." The caller was given the number to the death claims division. Another call was received in which the caller asked whether Met Life would pay if he was in a car accident or his house was robbed and he was killed in Pakistan. Met Life responded by explaining the insurance contestability provision to the caller. During another call, the caller stated that he did not speak much English and put an individual on the phone whom he identified as his girlfriend. The policy conditions were then explained to the girlfriend.

A memorandum written to the vice president of the Mid-America head office who appears to have been involved in the investigation of the policy after the decedent's death referred to these calls and states:

"Barb Gardener called. They received four calls on the case you inquired about. All of them came in on 2/19. They were strange enough that the case found its way into the Consulting Services area and they noted the file. They thought there'd be a disappearing act in Pakistan."

Six days after these calls were made to Met Life, the decedent was stabbed and beaten to death in his apartment. Cheema is the suspected murderer; however, he has never been convicted of this offense. The facts establish that he fled to Pakistan after the decedent's murder and has avoided extradition thus far. Plaintiff filed his initial complaint in this matter in February 1995 and alleged that Met Life negligently issued an insurance policy on the life of the decedent. He subsequently filed first, second and third amended complaints, all of which were dismissed for insufficiency of the pleadings pursuant to defense motions filed under section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 1994). Plaintiff then filed his fourth amended complaint. Count IV of the complaint alleged in relevant part that Met Life: (a) negligently and carelessly issued a life insurance policy on the life of the decedent without investigating the veracity of the information on the insurance application or personally meeting the insured; (b) issued a policy in favor of a beneficiary who did not possess an insurable interest in the life of the insured; (c) improperly relied on misrepresentations made by its agent in underwriting the policy; (d) failed to warn the decedent of suspicious phone calls which suggested that he was in imminent danger; and (e) provided a motivation and temptation for the murder of the decedent by the designated beneficiary. Count V alleged gross negligence for the same acts or omissions as they related to Met Life's agent, Sheik. Count VI alleged that Met Life negligently supervised Sheik. Count VII alleged that Met Life possessed actual knowledge of the following information: (a) the decedent had no knowledge of the life insurance policy taken out on his life; (b) Cheema signed the application for the policy posing as the decedent; (c) Cheema was not related to the decedent and was specifically not the decedent's son; (d) that an imposter took the physical examination required by the policy; (e) Cheema intended to murder the decedent to collect the policy benefits; and (f) Cheema did in fact murder the decedent after the policy was officially issued.

In a written order, the trial court granted defendant's section 2-615 motion to dismiss counts IV through VI of the fourth amended complaint on grounds of insufficient pleadings, stating...