Gulf Life Ins. Co. v. Lanier
| Decision Date | 07 September 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 42144,No. 3,42144,3 |
| Citation | 151 S.E.2d 161,114 Ga.App. 277 |
| Parties | GULF LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY v. Hattie LANIER |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Tindall & Tindall, Atlanta, Neville & Neville, William J. Neville, Statesboro, for appellant.
Anderson & Sanders, Cohen Anderson, Faye Sanders, Statesboro, for appellee.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
This is an appeal from the judgment of the trial court, sitting without the intervention of a jury, finding for the plaintiff in a suit by her to recover certain disability benefits payable for loss of a foot under two policies of life insurance issued by the defendant company. The case was tried under a stipulation of facts which showed that the disease causing the alleged loss pre-existed the issuance of each policy and was not contracted while the policies were in force as required by applicable provisions thereof, and the judgment of the trial court was apparently based upon the conclusion that such defense was not available to the defendant under the incontestable clause of each policy which was in effect at the time the loss was sustained and which provided as follows: 'The policy will be incontestable after it has been in force during the life-time of the insured for one year from the policy date, except for the nonpayment of premiums and except for any provisions relating to additional benefits specifically granted in event of death by accidental means, dismemberment or loss of sight.' (Emphasis supplied). Held:
The policies sued upon in this case having expressly excluded provisions relating to the specific loss involved here (dismemberment) from the operation of the incontestable clauses contained therein, the defendant insurer was not precluded by the incontestable clauses from showing that such loss was not covered within the terms and provisions of the policies because of restrictions and exclusions therein, although it would have been precluded from asserting as a defense the invalidity of the policies because of fraud in procurement or any other ground affecting the validity of the policies as a whole. Equitable Life Assurance Society v. Gillam, 195 Ga. 797(1), 25 S.E.2d 686, 147 A.L.R. 1008; Penn Mut. Life Insurance Co. v. Childs, 65 Ga.App. 468(6), 16 S.E.2d 103. As stated by this court in the Childs case at page 477, 16 S.E.2d at page 110, in considering the effect of an incontestable clause excluding provisions relating to disability benefits from its operation: 'We think it was the intention of the parties at the time the contract was...
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