202 Mass. 292 | Mass. | 1909
The defendant’s agreement, as stated in the certificate of insurance, was that it would pay- the stipulated amount to the beneficiary appointed under the certificate within ninety days from the receipt by its board of directors “ of proof satisfactory to said board of the death of ” John Gourley, “ and that his death has been caused wholly and entirely by external, violent, and accidental means.” Its liability accordingly did not arise until the presentation of such proof to its board, not only of the death but also of the fact that the cause of the death was that mentioned in this stipulation. Hatch v. United States Casualty Co. 197 Mass. 101. Union Institution for Savings v. Phoenix Ins. Co. 196 Mass. 230, 236. North American Ins. Co. v. Burroughs, 69 Penn. St. 43. In this respect the case differs from many of those relied on by the plaintiff, in which proof only of the death was called for, without such an additional requirement as is made here. Flynn v. Massachusetts Benefit Association, 152 Mass. 288. Taylor v. Ætna Ins. Co. 13 Gray, 434. Bowen v. National Life Association, 63 Conn. 460. Insurance Co. v. Rodel, 95 U. S. 232.
It appeared at the trial that the plaintiff had furnished to the defendant, in accordance with this condition of the policy, cer
' The presiding judge at the trial ruled, at the request of the plaintiff, that the affidavits first furnished to the defendant by the plaintiff constituted the proof which she was required to furnish, and that the subsequent affidavits of Drs. Johnston and Canfield were not a part of such proof; and this presents the first question raised upon the defendant’s exceptions.
The proofs to be furnished by the plaintiff were by the terms of the policy to be satisfactory to the defendant’s board of directors. This, to be sure, does not mean that the judgment of the defendant’s board necessarily was to be final on the matter, but only that the proofs must be such as ought to be satisfactory to reasonable men acting reasonably. Accordingly it ordinarily will be for the jury, looking at the proof actually furnished, to say whether it was such as reasonably should have satisfied the directors. Noyes v. Commercial Travellers' Eastern Accident Assoc. 190 Mass. 171,182, and cases cited. C. W. Hunt Co. v. Boston Elevated Railway, 199 Mass. 220. Cashman v. Proctor, 200 Mass. 272. But it was the duty of the directors to consider in the first instance the proof submitted by the plaintiff, to weigh it, and to make up their minds whether it ought to satisfy them as reasonable men. If they thought that further proof was
It is of some importance that the plaintiff acquiesced in the request of the defendant for these additional affidavits, and furnished them through her then attorney, who must be taken
We are of opinion that the judge erred in ruling that the affidavits of Johnston and Canfield were not a part of the preliminary proof, furnished by the plaintiff to the defendant in accordance with the requirement of the policy.
The question whether upon this complete proof it would have been open to the jury to say that the board of directors, acting as reasonable men, ought to have been satisfied, not only of the death of the insured, but that his death was “caused wholly and entirely by external, violent and accidental means,” is somewhat difficult. Upon this question the affidavits disclosed evidence which would have warranted diametrically opposite answers. They showed that there had been severe accidental injuries, followed within two days by death which, upon the statement first made by Dr. Johnston, seemed to be the direct result of those injuries. This view was supported by the affidavit of the plaintiff, and by those of Farnsworth and of the undertaker, so far as they could be taken to have spoken from knowledge. But in his subsequent affidavit Dr. Johnston stated, upon information, that the deceased had suffered from a pre-existing sickness, and declined to say positively that death was or was not the result of the accident. Dr. Canfield in his affidavit declared that the death was not caused wholly by external, violent and accidental means, that the deceased had been under the deponent’s medical treatment for acute nephritis for approximately two months, and that the death was due to uraemic convulsions. Upon this state of the evidence, the defendant’s counsel have argued with great force that the jury should not be allowed to say that the directors, acting as reasonable men in a fiduciary capacity (Elliott v. Baker, 194 Mass. 518, 523; Palmer v. Northern Belief Assoc. 175 Mass. 396, 397), ought to have decided that they were satisfied that the death was due wholly and entirely to the injuries sustained by the accident. As this question is likely to be raised again at a new trial, in substantially the same way, it ought now to be considered.
The other questions discussed at the argument may be more briefly considered.
The testimony of Dr. Johnston and of the medical experts to their opinion that the death of Gourley was due to the accident and not to uraemic convulsions, was competent upon the issue of what was the real case of the death. It cannot be held to be incompetent because it tended to contradict some of the statements of opinion contained in the preliminary proof furnished by the plaintiff. The case of Campbell v. Charter Oak Ins. Co. 10 Allen, 213, so far as it tends to* support this contention of the defendant, has been discredited by subsequent decisions. Abraham v. Mutual Reserve Fund Association, 183 Mass. 116. Barker V. Metropolitan Ins. Co. 198 Mass. 375, 382, and cases cited.
The jury ought not to have been allowed to consider the statements made in the preliminary proofs of death as evidence in favor of the plaintiff upon the issue of what was the real cause of Gourley’s death. These papers were admissible for the plaintiff and could be considered in her favor only upon the issue of the sufficiency of the proof submitted by her to the defendant’s directors. This is settled both upon reason and authority. Cluff v. Mutual Benefit Life Ins. Co. 99 Mass. 317, 324. Cook v. Standard Life Accident Ins. Co. 84 Mich. 12. Senat v. Porter, 7 T. R. 158. How far these statements would have been competent against her, as admissions made or adopted by her, need not now be considered. Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Newton, 22 Wall. 32. Wall v. Continental Casualty Co. 111 Mo. App. 504.
Exceptions Sustained.