Commonwealth Life Ins. Co. v. Miles
| Decision Date | 01 February 1944 |
| Docket Number | Case Number: 31209 |
| Citation | 145 P.2d 964,1944 OK 31,193 Okla. 491 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH LIFE INS. CO. v. MILES, Ex'x. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
¶0 1. INSURANCE--Liability of insurance company to motorist on short-term policy issued by filling station operator as agent upon loosely executed application.
An insurance company that constitutes the operator of a retail station engaged in. the distribution of gasoline and related products its agent to issue short-term life and accident insurance contracts is bound by a policy issued on an application giving substantial information accepted as sufficient by the issuing agent.
2. SAME--Purchase price of gasoline and related products as sufficient consideration for short-term policy.
A short-term life and accident insurance contract issued by an insurance company for the consideration of the purchase price paid for gasoline and related products is supported by a good and valuable consideration.
Appeal from Court of Common Pleas, Tulsa County; Wm. N. Randolph, Judge.
Action upon an insurance contract by Anna Miles, executrix of the estate of Roy H. Miles, deceased, against the Commonwealth Life Insurance Company. From a judgment for the plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.
John T. Gibson and A. C. Saunders, both of Tulsa, for plaintiff in error.
Rittenhouse, Webster, Hanson & Rittenhouse, of Oklahoma City, and Royal & Royal, of Des Moines, Iowa, for defendant in error.
¶1 This is an actionbrought by Anna Miles, executrix of the estate of Roy H. Miles, deceased, hereinafter called insured, to recover on an insurance policy issued to insured, said policy being for the principal sum of $1,000 issued by the defendant, the Commonwealth Life Insurance Company. The cause was tried to the court without the intervention of a jury. Judgment was for the plaintiff for $1,000, and the defendant appeals. The parties will be referred to by their trial court designation.
¶2 On the 25th day of October, 1940, insured, accompanied by plaintiff, entered a filling station in Clinton, Okla., at approximately 2 p. m. Insured was driving a 1940 Pontiac automobile, state license No. 77-46831. Insured paid for the gasoline placed in his automobile and thereupon was presented with an application for a 24-hour life insurance policy. The application is as follows:
¶3 The attendant who serviced the automobile immediately delivered the policy, the pertinent part of which is as follows:
the applicant for this insurance whose signature appears upon the stub of this policy in the possession of the Company, bearing even number, hour, date and automobile license number herewith (hereinafter called the insured) against loss resulting directly and independently of all other causes from bodily injuries sustained during the term of the policy and effected solely through external violent and accidental means while actually driving the automobile, the license number of which is stated above, herein called such accident), subject to the conditions and limitations herein contained.
¶4 It will be seen that the age of the insured was omitted from the application as was the state automobile license number. The insured paid the regular posted price for the gasoline placed in the automobile and no other consideration was paid by him or anyone else in his behalf. He signed the application, received the policy and delivered the policy to the plaintiff, who placed the same in her purse.
¶5 On the 26th day of October, 1940, at approximately 10:30 a. m., insured sustained an accidental injury while driving the identical automobile in which the gasoline was placed and on which the policy was in fact issued, and died as a result of the injuries at Springfield, Mo., at approximately 2 p. m. on the same date.
¶6 The defendant presents four propositions: (1) The policy is void because the application did not include the age of the insured; (...
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