Longley v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America

• Decision Date: 07 April 1942
• Docket Number: No. 25991.,25991.
• Citation: 161 S.W.2d 27
• Parties: LONGLEY v. PRUDENTIAL INS. CO. OF AMERICA.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

161 S.W.2d 27

LONGLEY v. PRUDENTIAL INS. CO. OF AMERICA.

No. 25991.

St. Louis Court of Appeals. Missouri.

April 7, 1942.

Rehearing Denied April 21, 1942.

Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court; Ernest F. Oakley, Judge.

"Not to be reported in State Reports."

Action by Wilhermina Longley against the Prudential Insurance Company of America to recover on a group policy. Judgment for the plaintiff, and the defendant appeals.

Judgment reversed.

Fordyce, White, Mayne, Williams & Hartman and R. E. LaDriere, all of St. Louis (J. L. Miller, of Newark, N. J., of counsel), for appellant.

John A. Davis, Sidney R. Redmond, and Henry D. Espy, all of St. Louis, for respondent.

SUTTON, Commissioner.

This is an action on a group insurance policy issued by defendant, Prudential Insurance Company of America, to the Pullman Company, on the lives of its employees.

The trial, with a jury, resulted in a verdict in favor of plaintiff for $3,051, including interest. Judgment was given accordingly, and defendant appeals.

The group policy provides that the insureds are the several persons named in the record of employees of the Pullman Company; that the first premium is payable by the employer on the delivery of the policy, and that subsequent payments of the premiums shall be made on the first day of each and every month thereafter of every year; that if any premium be not paid when due the policy shall be void and all premiums forfeited to the company; that the first monthly premium shall be the sum of the several monthly premiums for the individual amounts to be insured at the issue of the policy, for the respective ages, nearest birthday, of the insured on the date of the policy; that each subsequent monthly premium shall be based upon the amount of insurance under the policy on the due date of such premium; that the employer and the employees shall contribute jointly toward the payment of the premiums; that in the payment of any premium a grace of thirty-one days without interest will be allowed during which time the policy will remain in force.

The policy further provides as follows:

"A Record of the Employees insured hereunder, containing their names, the respective amounts for which they are insured and the date on which the insurance on each employee became effective or terminated shall be kept by the Employer. Said Record shall become a part of this Policy and shall be open to inspection by the Company at any time. The Employer shall report to the Company at the end of each period of one month the number of employees insured at that time and the total amount of insurance in force, specifying the number of new employees added during the said period and the total amount of insurance on their lives, the total amount of increases in insurance during said period, the number of employees whose insurance is terminated during said period and the total amount of insurance so terminated.

"New employees of the Employer eligible for insurance in the group or class insured under this Policy shall upon request from time to time, subject to evidence of insurability satisfactory to the Company, be added to the group or class originally insured hereunder, and, subject to the terms of the Policy, shall be insured in accordance with the plan of insurance set forth in the application for this Policy, provided that no evidence of insurability will be required of employees added within sixty days from the date of eligibility according to the plan of insurance. The Employer's payrolls and other similar records shall be open for inspection by the Company for the purpose of determining the amounts of insurance under this Policy and the premiums therefor.

"Irrespective of any other mode of termination the insurance upon the life of any person insured hereunder shall cease and determine upon termination of the employment of such person with the Employer, except that at the option of the Employer employees temporarily laid-off, on leave of absence or temporarily disabled shall during such periods be considered as being in the employ of the Employer. The Employer shall enter upon the Record of Employees the date when the insurance on any employee terminated. Such entry by the Employer of any termination of insurance shall be satisfactory evidence that such insurance has terminated and shall release the Company from all claims on account of the insurance so terminated, except as to the right of conversion as herein provided."

The policy further provides that the company will issue to the employer for delivery to each person insured under the policy an individual certificate setting forth the insurance protection to which such person is entitled and to whom such insurance is payable.

On January 16, 1938, William Longley made application to the Pullman Company for participation in the group insurance plan, as follows: For natural death $2,700, for accidental death $2,700, for weekly indemnity $18. In the application Longley agrees to pay for all benefits to which he is entitled under the insurance plan, in monthly installments, and authorizes the treasurer of the Pullman Company to deduct the amount of each installment from the amount due him upon the Company's pay-roll for the last half of each month. Plaintiff was designated in the application as beneficiary.

Upon this application the Pullman Company issued to Longley a certificate of the defendant company, stating that in accordance with and subject to the terms and conditions of its group insurance policy, said company has insured his life in the amount of $2,700 payable to the beneficiary designated, upon receipt of due proof of his death while the insurance on his life under said policy is in force. A like certificate was issued to him, stating that he was insured by the group policy in the amount of $2,700 for accidental death, with a provision for $18 weekly disability indemnity.

An action was brought on the accident feature of the insurance, which resulted in a judgment for defendant. That judgment was pleaded in bar of the present action. This plea was stricken on plaintiff's motion.

Defendant assigns error here for the refusal of its instruction in the nature of a demurrer to the evidence. It puts this assignment on the ground that the evidence does not show that Longley was within the coverage of the group policy at the time of his death.

It appears that Longley was brought within the coverage of the group policy on January 16, 1938. At that time he had been in the employment of the Pullman Company for a period of six months, such period of service being required to qualify him for insurance under the policy. The record of employees kept by the Pullman Company shows that the premium due from him to the Pullman Company for February, 1938, was deducted by the company from his January wages, and that like deductions were made from his wages in February, March, and April, which paid his premiums for the months of March, April, and May. The record shows that he was laid off or furloughed on May 13th. It further shows that no deduction was made from his wages in May, and that he paid no further premiums thereafter down to the time of his death, which occurred on September 19, 1938....