Johnson v. Des Moines Life Ass'n

• Decision Date: 10 May 1898
• Citation: 75 N.W. 101,105 Iowa 273
• Parties: WESLEY M. JOHNSON v. THE DES MOINES LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

75 N.W. 101

105 Iowa 273

WESLEY M. JOHNSON v. THE DES MOINES LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

May 10, 1898

Appeal from Lee District Court.--HON. H. BANK, JR., Judge.

ACTION to recover upon a policy of life insurance issued by the defendant on the life of L. May Johnson, upon her application in writing therefor. Defendant answered, alleging among other things that certain statements made in said application as true, and upon which defendant relied, were false fraudulent, and untrue, and known to said applicant, at the time they were made, to be false, fraudulent, and untrue. On the trial the defendant, to prove the statements made offered said application in evidence, to which the plaintiff objected "because no copy of the application is attached to the policy, as provided by section 1733 of McClain's Code; the copy purporting to be a copy of the application in question, which is attached to the policy, being only a copy of a portion of the application." This objection was sustained, and the defendant having rested, the court, on motion of the plaintiff, directed the jury to find for the plaintiff in the amount claimed, and entered judgment accordingly. Defendant appeals.

Affirmed.

Cummins Hewitt & Wright, A. J. McCrary and A. H. Evans for appellant.

J. C. Davis for appellee.

OPINION

GIVEN, J.

I.

Said section 1733 of McClain's Code is as follows: "All insurance companies or associations shall, upon the issue, or renewal of any policy, attach to such policy, or endorse thereon, a true copy of any application or representation of the assured, which, by the terms of such policy are made a part thereof, or of the contract of insurance, or referred to therein, or which may in any manner affect the validity of such policy. The omission so to do shall not render the policy invalid, but if any company or association neglects to comply with the requirements of this section, it shall forever be precluded from pleading, alleging or proving such application or representation or any part thereof, or falsity thereof, in any action upon such policy, and the plaintiff in any such action shall not be required, in order to recover against such company or association, either to plead or prove such application or representation but may do so at his option." The application offered in evidence, and the purported copy thereof attached to the policy, are upon printed blanks, filled up in writing, and differing somewhat in form and words, as will be hereafter noticed. It appears that prior to the issuing of this policy the defendant changed the form of its blank applications, and printed the new form on the back of its policies. This application was made upon the old form, and the copy upon the new; hence the differences we are called upon to consider.

The first contention is as to the meaning of the words "true copy," as used in said section. Defendant contends that a substantial copy is all that is required, while the plaintiff insists that it must be exact, accurate, and not merely a substantial copy. In determining this contention, we must consider the purpose of the statute, as well as the meaning of the words. An evident purpose of this statute is that when the application is made a part of the contract, as in this case, a true copy must be attached to the policy, so that the writings composing the contract may all appear together, and that the insured may be in possession of the evidence of what his contract is. With this purpose in mind, we inquire what is intended by the words "true copy." It is said that nothing is added by the word "true"; that, to be a copy, it must be a true copy; and yet this discussion recognizes that a copy may be only substantial, or that it may be exact, accurate, or a true likeness of the original. The word "true" surely emphasizes the requirement. The following definitions found in Webster's International Dictionary will aid in solving this question: "Copy. To make a copy or copies of; to write, print, engrave, or paint after an original; to duplicate; to reproduce; to transcribe; as to copy a manuscript, inscription, design, painting," etc. "True, (1) Comformable to fact; in accordance with the actual state of things; correct; not false, erroneous inaccurate, or the like; as a true relation or narration; a true history. A declaration is true when it states the facts. (2) Right, to precision; conformable to a rule or pattern; exact; accurate; as a true copy; a true likeness of the original." "Substantial. (1) Belonging to substance; actually existing; real; as substantial life. (2) Not seeming or imaginary; not elusive; real; solid; true; veritable." "Comparison. (1) The act of comparing; an examination of two or more objects with the view of discovering the resemblance or differences; relative estimate." It is by comparison of these two documents that we have ascertained the differences between...