60 Pa. Super. 466 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1915
Opinion by
This action was brought by the husband as the beneficiary. Appellant contended that the heirs at law were the beneficiaries and the action should have been brought by them. The application designating the beneficiary was in foreign language, not easily translated, and in the appellant’s possession. Appellee moved to amend by adding as a party plaintiff the guardian of a minor child, who, with husband, were the heirs at law.. Amendments in the names of the parties which do not change the cause of action (Wildermuth v. Long, 196 Pa. 541; Garman v. Glass, 197 Pa. 101), and are made before the statute of limitations has run, are permitted under the Act of May 4, 1852, P. L. 574; Kaylor v. Shaffner, 24 Pa. 489; Fritz v. Heyl, 93 Pa. 77. This amendment did not violate, either of these rules and was properly allowed.
After the appellant had succeeded in forcing this
The by-laws of the association provide that, “Every respectable white Christian man or woman may 'become a member of the association who is not below the age of 16 and not above 45, if he is found, on the ground of medical examination, resp. certificate, healthy, physically and mentally.” The court held that in so far as the health of the insured entered into or was a condition precedent to the contract, it was made to depend upon the report of the medical examination made by the physician, subject, however, to the approval of the proper officers of the association as provided in the bylaws; that such examination did not require declarations to be made by the insured as to her health. There
“Slight troubles, temporary and light illness, infrequent and light attacks of sickness, not of such character to produce bodily infirmity or serious impairment or derangement of vital organs, do not disprove the warranty of good health. In other words, the term ‘good health,’ when used in a policy of life insurance, means that the applicant has no grave, important or serious disease, and is free from any ailment that seriously affects the general soundness and healthfulness of the system. A mere temporary indisposition which does not tend to weaken or undermine the constitution at the time of taking membership does not render the policy void”: Barnes v. Fidelity Mutual Life Assn., 191 Pa. 618. “In construing a policy of life insurance it must be generally true that, before any temporary ailment can be called a disease, it must be such as to indicate a vice in the constitution, or be so serious as to have some bearing upon the general health and the continuance of life, or such as according to common understanding would be called a disease; and such has been the opinion of text writers and judges”: Baldi v. Insurance Co., 18
The assignments of error are overruled and the judgment is affirmed at the cost of the appellant.