Equitable Life Assurance Co. of U.S. v. Odle
| Decision Date | 14 March 1977 |
| Citation | 547 S.W.2d 939 |
| Parties | The EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY OF the UNITED STATES, Petitioner, v. Penny E. ODLE, Respondent. |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Jesse E. Johnson, Jr., Joe M. Duncan, Burch, Porter & Johnson, Memphis, for petitioner.
Charles M. Crump, Larry B. Creson, Jr., Apperson, Crump, Duzane & Maxwell, Memphis, Manuel M. Gorman, Vice President and Gen. Counsel, American Life Ins. Ass'n, Washington, D. C., for American Life Ins. Ass'n, amicus curiae.
Vern F. Chumney, Memphis, for respondent.
Milton P. Rice, Nashville, for Tennessee Life Ins. Companies.
Dan H. Elrod, Nashville, amicus curiae.
The issue in this Court is whether group accidental death and dismemberment policies are group life insurance policies within the contemplation of T.C.A. § 56-1141 and thus required to provide conversion privileges and extended benefit privileges following termination of employment.
Defendant issued two policies of group insurance to I T & T Corporation. Policy # 13160 provided group life insurance and policy # 13160D provided accidental death and dismemberment benefits to said employees. The face amount of coverage in each policy was $4,000.
Plaintiff was an employee of I T & T and as such was afforded coverage under the two (2) group policies. In the present posture of the case, it is established that his employment with I T & T was terminated on 2 February, 1972, and that his accidental death occurred on 19 February, 1972.
The group life policy, # 13160, allowed conversion to an individual life policy within thirty-one (31) days after termination of employment and also provided that if death occurred within the thirty-one (31) day period after termination, the life insurance benefits would be paid under the group policy. Both of these provisions are mandated by T.C.A. § 56-1141, for inclusion in "group life insurance" policies. Defendant has paid the amount due by the terms of the group life insurance policy and no controversy remains with respect to it.
The group accidental death and dismemberment policy, # 13160D, expressly provided that the insurance coverage ceased automatically upon termination of employment. No conversion privilege or extended benefit provision was written into the accident policy and the single issue before this Court is whether T.C.A. § 56-1141 mandates such provisions for accidental death and dismemberment policies.
The Court of Appeals affirming the result reached in the trial court, said the ultimate issue was whether accidental death and dismemberment insurance is "group life insurance" under the Code. Resorting to the definition of life insurance in T.C.A. § 56-218, they held that the statutory language and the holding of Provident L & A Ins. Co. v. Simmer, 157 Tenn. 597, 12 S.W.2d 365 (1928) embraces accidental death policies; that although T.C.A. § 56-1141 makes no specific mention of group accidental death and dismemberment insurance, such insurance is included within the term "group life insurance" because of T.C.A. § 56-218 and Simmer.
We disagree.
If the issue we confront was correctly conceived by the Court of Appeals, there remains a serious question whether the Legislature intended the definitions in T.C.A. § 56-218 to apply to Chapter 11 of Title 56. It appears reasonable to conclude that the Legislature was concerned only with defining all of the kinds of insurance in the context of determining insurance company qualifications to insure and the granting of authority to engage in writing one or more kinds of insurance.
However, it is unnecessary to base our decision on the premise that T.C.A. § 56-218 does not apply because in our opinion the definition of life insurance therein does not embrace accidental death insurance. Such insurance falls squarely within the definition of "disability insurance" in T.C.A. § 56-218 and not "life insurance" as defined therein.
The statute defines the two kinds of insurance as follows:
"56-218. Definitions of kinds of insurance. Kinds of insurance shall be defined, as follows:
LIFE INSURANCE. 'Life insurance' is insurance on human lives and insurance appertaining thereto or connected therewith. For the purposes of this code, the transacting of life insurance includes the granting of annuities and endowment benefits, additional benefits in event of death by accident or accidental means, additional benefits in event of the total and permanent disability of the insured, and optional modes of settlement of proceeds.
DISABILITY INSURANCE.
'Disability insurance' is an insurance against bodily injury, disablement or death by accident or accidental means or the expense thereof, against disablement or expense resulting from sickness, and every insurance appertaining thereto."
As we construe the Code definition of...
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