McDonald v. Beneficial Standard Life Ins. Co., 13615
| Decision Date | 07 June 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 13615,13615 |
| Citation | 235 S.E.2d 367,160 W.Va. 396 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | Jackie W. McDONALD v. BENEFICIAL STANDARD LIFE INS. CO. |
Syllabus by the Court
1. "If the facts regarding the risk are correctly stated to the agent of an insurance company, but erroneously inserted by him in the application, the company is chargeable with his error or mistake. . . ." Syllabus, Bays v. Farmers' Mutual Fire Association of West Virginia, 114 W.Va. 164, 171 S.E. 253 (1933).
2. "The judge of the court when engaged in the trial of a case before a jury should studiously abstain from indicating by word, gesture or otherwise his personal views upon the weight of the evidence, or the credibility or incredibility of the witnesses, or the extent of the damages sued for, thereby to invade the province of the jurors, the proper triers of the facts." Syllabus, point 1, Dye v. Rathbone, 102 W.Va. 386, 135 S.E. 274 (1926).
Harry R. McCulloh, Petersburg, Charles W. Smith, Keyser, for appellant.
Geary & Geary, James Paul Geary and Dennis V. DiBenedetto, Petersburg, for appellee.
Beneficial Standard Life Insurance Company brings this appeal from the Circuit Court of Grant County, where a jury found against it and returned a $7,460.00 verdict favoring Jackie W. McDonald. McDonald's suit against Beneficial was inspired by the company's failure to pay him disability benefits after open heart surgery.
The company's defense was that he did not tell its agent that he had heart or blood vessel disease when he applied for the insurance; that it would not have insured him if he had made an accurate disclosure of his medical history; and therefore the policy was fraudulently obtained. The medical history attached to his application was filled out by the agent during an interview with McDonald and then signed by McDonald, who testified he did not read it.
McDonald's evidence was that he told the agent he had for thirteen years visited physicians and on four occasions been hospitalized for chest pains and the physicians always told him his heart was normal.
The controlling West Virginia law is:
"If the facts regarding the risk are correctly stated to the agent of an insurance company, but erroneously inserted by him in the application, the company is chargeable with his error or mistake. . . ." Syllabus, Bays v. Farmers' Mutual Fire Association of West Virginia, 114 W.Va. 164, 171 S.E. 253 (1933).
This has been our rule since the last century and we certainly know of no reason to change it.
And, since the matter was decided by a jury, we add this ancient rule that needs no citation: Neither this Court nor our trial courts will set aside a jury verdict if a case involving conflicting evidence has been fairly tried, unless the verdict is plainly contrary to the great weight of the evidence or is plainly without evidence to support it.
Our review of the record reveals to us abundant evidence to support the verdict.
But it also discloses disturbing comments to the jury by the trial judge about the evidence....
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