72 Mo. App. 455 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1897
This is an action on a policy of insurance which was issued upon the life of Charity Preston, deceased, and in which the defendant agreed to pay to her executor or administrator $105, in consideration of the payment of a weekly assessment of thirty-five cents. The policy was issued on the second day of September, 1889, and Charity Preston died on the eleventh day of June, 1895. It was conceded that all assessments had been promptly paid and that proofs of death had been furnished. The averment in the complaint was that the plaintiffs, who are husband and wife, were the joint owners and holders of the policy and entitled to receive its benefits. On the trial the wife claimed to be the sole beneficiary. The defenses were:
“In consideration of the application for this policy, which is hereby made a part of this contract, and of the several statements made therein, and of the premiums hereinafter referred to, hereby promise to pay, at its home office in Newark, New Jersey, within twenty-four hours after satisfactory proof at its. said office of the death of the person named in the first column of the schedule herein contained, unto his or her executors or administrators, unless settlement shall be made under the provisions of article second, hereinafter contained, the sum of money as provided in the third column of said schedule, subject' to the following restrictions, conditions, and agreements:”
Article second, above referred to, is as follows:
“Second. The company may pay the sum of money insured hereby, to any relative of blood, or connection by marriage of the insured, or to any other person appearing to said company to be equitably entitled to the same by reason of having incurred expense in any way on behalf of the insured for his or her burial, or for any other purpose, and the production by this company of a receipt signed by any or either of said persons, or of other sufficient proof of such payment to any or either of them, shall be conclusive evidence that such sum has been paid to the person or persons entitled thereto, and that all claims under this policy have been fully satisfied.”
In her application Charity Preston represented that she was sixty years old. The policy recites that in consideration of a weekly premium of thirty-five cents the
The plaintiffs introduced evidence tending to prove that in March, 1890, Charity Preston assigned the policy to Alice Floyd; that at the date of the assignment the assured was indebted to Alice Floyd for board in the sum of $140; that the policy was assigned as security for the debt, and that the debt remained unpaid at the death of the assured. At the close of the evidence the defendant asked the court to declare that under the law and evidence the judgment should be for the defendant. The instruction was refused and the defendant excepted. The theory advanced in support of the instruction for judgment is that, as the plaintiffs were neither the executors nor administrators of the deceased, and as the contract of insurance left it optional with defendant to pay the insurance to persons falling within the classes named in article 2, there could be no recovery.
The kind of business done by the defendant is known as “industrial insurance.” The poorer classes are its patrons. The primary purpose is to furnish, on weekly payments, a small amount of insurance on the lives of persons who depend on their daily labor for subsistence, and in that way provide means for defraying the expenses of their last sickness and of their burial. The undertaking of the defendant is to pay the amount to the executor or administrator of each policy holder, which carries with it the obligation to pay to the lawful assignee of such holder. This must follow, as the interest of the policy holder is a vested one and consequently is assignable. The policy itself recognizes the right of assignment, subject, however, to the rights of the company under article 2, in which it reserves the right to pay the other persons coming
There being no reversible error, the judgment of the circuit court will be affirmed.