Equitable Life Assur. Soc. of U.S. v. Hoover
| Decision Date | 06 February 1940 |
| Docket Number | 28873. |
| Parties | EQUITABLE LIFE ASSUR. SOC. OF UNITED STATES v. HOOVER. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied March 26, 1940.
Application for Leave to File Second Petition for Rehearing Denied April 30, 1940.
Syllabus by the Court.
1. Where a group insurance policy is open to two constructions one favorable, and one unfavorable to the insured, the former will be adopted in order to make effective the primary obligation of the contract.
2. Where a group insurance policy is carried by a company for its employees and the premiums are deducted from employees' wages or salary, and the policy contains certain provisions terminating the insurance upon termination of employment, and also provision granting thirty-one days grace during which time employee may convert policy, the insurance shall not terminate until the expiration of thirty-one days from date of termination of employment.
Appeal from District Court, Oklahoma County; Frank P. Douglass Judge.
Action by Bronse Hoover against the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States to recover on a group insurance policy as beneficiary of his deceased wife. From a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, the defendant appeals.
Judgment affirmed.
Snyder & Lybrand, of Oklahoma City, for plaintiff in error.
Suits & Lewis, of Oklahoma City, for defendant in error.
This action was filed by Bronse Hoover against the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States to recover on a group insurance policy, as beneficiary of his deceased wife, Mrs Gladys Hoover. This cause was tried to the court without the intervention of a jury.
The policy sued upon was a group policy issued by the Equitable Life Assurance Society as insurer of the Standard Oil Company and its subsidiaries. The Carter Oil Company, by whom Mrs. Gladys Hoover was employed at the time of the issuance of the policy, was a subsidiary of the Standard.
The policy provided that any employee of the Standard, or its subsidiary, who has been employed by such company for one year, was eligible for coverage and remained eligible so long as such employee remained in such employment, and that such employee could become covered by merely notifying the employer without notification to the society, and further provided that the coverage of any such employee automatically terminated upon the termination of his or her employment. It further provided that the insured had a thirty-one day grace period thereafter in which to convert into another policy.
Upon examination of the record we are convinced that the employment of Mrs. Gladys Hoover was terminated on June 15, 1937, and that the deceased died July 5, 1937. Therefore, there is only one question before the court, that is, to determine whether Mrs. Gladys Hoover was covered by the group insurance during the thirty-one day grace period, within which time there was provision for the conversion of the group policy into some other type of policy.
There are a number of authorities cited by the parties herein revealing that the courts in other jurisdictions have held both ways on this...
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