Fort v. Iowa Legion of Honor
| Decision Date | 22 November 1909 |
| Citation | 123 N.W. 224,146 Iowa 183 |
| Parties | F. M. FORT, Appellee, v. THE IOWA LEGION OF HONOR, Appellant |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
REHEARING DENIED, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1910.
Appeal from Clinton District Court.--HON. A. P. BARKER, Judge.
ACTION at law to recover damages for breach of a contract of insurance entered into by defendant with plaintiff, for which breach, consisting of a change in defendant's constitution, plaintiff claims to have rescinded the contract, and he asks to recover the amount of premiums paid. The trial court gave plaintiff judgment, and defendant appeals.
Affirmed.
Clark & Clark and Thomas & Thomas, for appellant.
J. M Fort, pro se.
Defendant is a mutual benefit society, organized under the laws of this State, and doing business on the assessment plan. On April 16, 1881, plaintiff made application for membership in this organization and on May 1st of that year a certificate was issued to him. This certificate contained the following, among other provisions: Plaintiff paid all the assessments levied against him down to July 1, 1907, being two hundred and thirty-seven in number, and at the rate of $ 1 each until the year 1897, when they were increased to $ 1.50, when he paid sixty-six at that rate until the year 1907, when the assessment was again increased to $ 3.20, at which rate he paid seventy-two before failing to respond. He also paid $ 41 as Grand Lodge dues to the defendant association. He was a member of various subordinate lodges of the defendant order, his final membership being in what is known as "Maquoketa Lodge No. 22." It is agreed:
That at a regular session of the Grand Lodge held in March, 1897, the method of assessment of members was changed from the level rate for all members to the graded rate, which provided that the rate of assessments should be fixed upon a scale dependent upon the age of the member. That the assessment of the plaintiff by virtue of such change became $ 1.50 per assessment, in place of $ 1. That afterwards, on or about May, 1901, at a regular session of the Grand Lodge, a further change of rate was made; the new scale of rates being based upon expectancy tables and upon the experience tables of insurance companies. That by such change the assessment rate for the plaintiff was made $ 3.20 for each assessment. That at the same meeting of the Grand Lodge a policy lien, also based upon expectancy table, was placed against all policies of certificates, which lien, in the case of the plaintiff, amounted to $ 730, which would make the face of his certificate amount to $ 1,270 at that time, to which amount was to be added all of the beneficiary assessments afterward paid by plaintiff. It is also agreed: That at a regular session of the Grand Lodge held in May, 1905, a further change in the policy lien plan was adopted in that twenty percent was added to the amount of the lien, which in the case of plaintiff would make the total lien $ 876, making the amount due upon his certificate in case of death $ 1,124, to which should be added the amount of assessments paid by the plaintiff commencing with July 1, 1901. That this constitutional amendment took effect on May 17, 1905. That at the regular meeting of the Grand Lodge held in May, 1907, the rates of assessment were changed so as to fully comply with the experience tables of the National Fraternal Congress of Fraternal Insurance Companies, and this change made the rate of assessment for the plaintiff $ 3.40. The lien was also changed upon certificates of all members, and in case of plaintiff increased the original lien to $ 775, to which amount was to be added the twenty percent provided by the Grand Lodge of 1905. After deducting this total lien from the certificate, there was to be added to the remainder such sums as he should pay as beneficiary assessments until the total amount payable under the certificate should amount to $ 2,000.
The parties also stipulated as follows:
That all of said changes were made at the various meetings in the due and regular form provided by said constitution and by-laws. That at the sessions of 1897 and 1901 F. B. Robinson was present and acting as the duly qualified and elected delegate and representative from Sioux Falls Lodge No. 194. That at the session of 1905 B. F. Thomas was present and acting as the duly elected and qualified delegate and representative from Maquoketa Lodge No. 22. That at the meeting of 1907 M. J. Harrington was present and acting as the duly elected and qualified delegate and representative of Maquoketa Lodge No. 22. That at the time of the said meeting of 1901 there was due to beneficiaries of the defendant association on account of death losses the sum of $ 90,000. That at the time of the meeting of the Grand Lodge in 1905 there was due to beneficiaries on account of death losses the sum of $ 73, 149.80, and at the time of the meeting of the Grand Lodge in May, 1907, there was due to beneficiaries on account of death losses the sum of $ 90,505.50. That the defendant association at the time and times mentioned had no money or funds with which to pay said losses, and that it depended upon the payments of assessments upon members to procure the necessary funds to pay said losses. That the articles of incorporation of the defendant association provided that 'the particular business and object of said incorporated body shall be to promote fraternity and afford financial aid and benefit to the widows and orphans and heirs or devisees of deceased members of the order.' The object of the defendant organization has been to provide insurance upon the lives of its members; the funds needed to pay such insurance being raised by assessments levied from time to time as the conditions of the association required. The assessments levied up to 1901, 1905, and 1907, did not produce a sufficient fund with which to pay for the losses occasioned by the death of members, leaving the amount still due to beneficiaries at the time of the Grand Lodge meetings held in those years as stated hereinbefore. . . . The defendant association publishes, and has published since the date prior to 1897, an official paper called the 'Herald,' and that the constitutional changes adopted in 1897, 1901, 1905, and 1907, were published in said Herald. That a copy of said Herald was mailed to every member of the order at their respective addresses, and that copies of said papers containing a published statement of the constitutional changes were mailed to the plaintiff and received by him some time during the month following the time of the adoption of the several amendments in the constitution. That the defendant organization has been and is still composed of a Grand Lodge and subordinate lodges as provided in the constitution set out in plaintiff's amendment to this petition. That the plaintiff failed to pay the assessments levied upon him in July, 1907, and that he failed to pay any amount to the defendant association. That, as provided in the constitution and by-laws, the plaintiff became suspended on account of his failure to pay said assessment on July 28, 1907. That he has since that date paid nothing to the defendant association; that said act of the plaintiff in failing to pay the assessments called in July, 1907, was a voluntary act on plaintiff's part; that the defendant association has no reserve fund except as provided for in the constitution attached hereto, and that the only money to carry on its business is that derived from assessments called for the purpose of paying the beneficiaries of deceased members, and such an amount as is found necessary to pay the running expenses of the business.
When plaintiff became a member of the society, its constitution provided that in case of loss an equal assessment was to be made upon all the members to meet the same. At a meeting of its Grand Lodge in May of the year 1901, it amended its constitution by adding a new section:
And thereby a fixed scale of assessments against all members was enacted, rated according to their respective ages at their last birthday, which, in case of plaintiff, was fifty-two years, and the rate he was to pay was fixed at $ 1.60 per thousand of his certificate, of which twelve assessments per year were to be made. That a lien was thereby created in favor of the beneficiary fund against every beneficiary certificate, including the plaintiff in a sum equal to twelve death assessments per annum for the period of life expectancy of each assured person. That by said amendment an expectancy table was adopted, by which table the plaintiff's expectancy in life was nineteen years, and the lien thus established against his certificate was $ 730, leaving $ 1,270 as the amount his beneficiary would have been entitled to, in case of his death, at that time. But it was further thereby provided that upon the amount of said lien should be credited the several amounts subsequently paid by the insured into the General Beneficiary fund, and, in case of his death before the amount paid by him shall have equaled the amount of such lien, then there shall be deducted from the amount of his policy a sum equal to the difference, and the remainder only...
To continue reading
Request your trial