Lonsdale v. Union Ins. Co., 34405

• Decision Date: 03 July 1958
• Docket Number: No. 34405,34405
• Citation: 167 Neb. 56,91 N.W.2d 245
• Parties: James D. LONSDALE, Appellant, v. UNION INSURANCE COMPANY, a Mutual Insurance Company, etc., Appellee.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Page 245

91 N.W.2d 245

167 Neb. 56

James D. LONSDALE, Appellant, v. UNION INSURANCE COMPANY, a Mutual Insurance Company, etc., Appellee.

No. 34405.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

July 3, 1958.

Syllabus by the Court.

1. An issue not raised by the pleadings and proof in the district court cannot be raised for the first time in the Supreme Court.

2. An insurance policy should be construed in the same manner as any other contract in order to give effect to the intent of the parties at the time it was made.

3. The language therein used should be considered not in accordance with what

the insurer intended the words to mean, but what a reasonable person in the position of insured would have understood them to mean.

4. If the contract was prepared by the insurer and contains provisions reasonably subject to different interpretations, one favorable to the insurer and one advantageous to the insured, the one favorable to the latter will be adopted.

5. In the construction of a contract, the instrument must be construed as a whole giving force and effect to all of the provisions of the contract.

6. The parties to an insurance contract may make the contract in any legal form they desire and, in the absence of statutory provisions to the contrary, insurance companies have the same right as individuals to limit their liability and to impose whatever conditions they please upon their obligations, not inconsistent with public policy. If plainly expressed, insurers are entitled to have such exceptions and limitations construed and enforced as expressed.

Waring & Gewacke, Geneva, for appellant.

Healey, Davies, Wilson & Barlow, Patrick W. Healey, Lincoln, for appellee.

Heard before SIMMONS, C. J., and CARTER, MESSMORE, YEAGER, WENKE and BOSLAUGH, JJ.

WENKE, Justice.

This appeal is from the district court for Fillmore County. It involves an action brought by James D. Lonsdale against the Union Insurance Company, a mutual insurance company, based on the medical pay coverage of a 'Combination Automobile Policy.' The trial court dismissed the action. Plaintiff thereupon filed a motion for new trial and this appeal is from the order overruling that motion.

Appellee issued to appellant a 'Combination Automobile Policy' covering appellant's 1956 Ford Fordor Victoria with motor serial number M6FF246919. This policy was effective from September 11, 1956, to September 11, 1957, and, for a premium charge of $5, covered 'Automobile Medical Payments' for each person covered up to a maximum of $500.

Appellant also owned a 2-ton '15-foot box cab-over-engine' truck which he used in connection with his business of farming. The truck was not covered by the policy issued to appellant. On November 3, 1956, while appellant was using this truck to haul cattle, it overturned at a point on a public road about 2 miles north of Ruskin, Nuckolls County, Nebraska. As a result of the truck turning over appellant, who was driving it, and his wife, who was riding with him, were seriously injured. The wife subsequently died as a result of injuries she suffered in the accident.

Admittedly appellant incurred expenses of the type enumerated in the medical payment provisions of the policy in excess of $500 for both him and his wife as a result of the injuries each suffered in the accident. He herein seeks to recover the sum of $500, the maximum limit payable under the policy, for each of them, together with a reasonable attorney's fee. The question thus presented is, were appellant and his wife covered by the medical payment provisions of the policy while riding in appellant's truck?

Appellant contends that certain provisions of the policy are not printed in the size type required by subsection (4) of section 44-712, R.R.S.1943, and, because of that fact, are not in effect but are, in fact, out of the policy. This issue was neither raised by the pleadings filed nor by the evidence adduced in the district court. It is raised for the first time in this court on appeal. Under this situation the question is not here for our consideration. See, Hardy v. Hardy, 161 Neb. 175, 72 N.W.2d 902; Vielehr v. Malone, 158 Neb. 436, 63 N.W.2d 497; Horbach v. Butler, 135 Neb. 394, 281 N.W. 804. As stated in Horbach v. Butler, supra: 'An issue not raised by the pleadings and proof in the district court cannot be raised for the first time in the supreme court.'

In construing the policy the following principles are applicable:

'An insurance policy should be construed as any other contract to give effect to the intent of the parties at the time it was made.' Koehn v. Union Fire Ins. Co., 152 Neb. 254, 40 N.W.2d 874, 878. See, also, Rathbun v. Globe Indemnity Co., 107 Neb. 18, 184 N.W. 903, 24 A.L.R. 191.

'The language should be considered not in accordance with what the insurer intended the words to mean, but what a reasonable person in the position of insured would have understood them to mean. If the contract was prepared by the insurer and contains provisions reasonably subject to different interpretations, one favorable to the insurer and one advantageous to the insured, the one favorable to the latter will be adopted.' Koehn v. Union Fire Ins. Co., supra. See, also, 29 Am.Jur., Insurance, § 166, p. 180.

'* * * in the construction of a contract, the instrument must be construed as a whole giving force and effect to all of the provisions of the contract.' Eastep v. Northwestern Nat. Life Ins. Co., 114 Neb. 505, 208 N.W. 632, 634.

'* * * the parties to an insurance contract may make the contract in any legal form they desire, and in the absence of statutory provisions to the contrary, insurance companies have the same right as individuals to limit their liability and to impose whatever conditions they please upon their obligations, not inconsistent with public policy. If plainly expressed, insurers are entitled to have such exceptions and limitations construed and enforced as expressed.' 29 Am.Jur., Insurance, § 166, p. 184.

Generally, the policy provides: 'Union Insurance Company * * * Agrees with the insured, named in the declarations made a part hereof, in consideration of the payment of the premium and in reliance upon the statements in the declarations and subject to the limits of liability, exclusions, conditions and other terms of this policy: * * *.' (Emphasis ours.)

As to automobile medical payments the policy provides generally that: 'Coverage C--To pay all...