Source: https://www.legalcrystal.com/case/96194/wilber-national-bank-vs-united-states
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 04:40:23+00:00

Document:
1. As a general rule, the United States is not estopped by arrangements or agreements of its agents to do what the law does not sanction, and those who deal with its agents are charged with notice of the limitations of their powers. P. 294 U. S. 123 .
2. Quaere, how far, if at all, these general rules are subject to modification where the Government enters into transactions of a commercial nature. P. 294 U. S. 124 .
3. Assuming that the United States may be estopped in its insurance business, it is not bound to pay a policy which had lapsed and become nonreinstatable merely because the Veterans' Bureau did not notify the insured of how a cash payment by him was allocated to premiums and other charges, or notify him of the default, such notices not being customary in the Bureau's practice, nor because the Bureau did not promptly acknowledge sums which were remitted to it as premium payments after the policy had lapsed and when reinstatement had become impossible. P. 294 U. S. 124 .
States must be held to have had notice of the limitation of his authority. Utah Power & Light Co. v. United States, 243 U. S. 389 , 243 U. S. 409 ; Sutton v. United States, 256 U. S. 575 , 256 U. S. 579 .
How far, if at all, these general rules are subject to modification where the United States enter into transactions commercial in nature ( Cooke v. United States, 91 U. S. 389 , 91 U. S. 399 ; White v. United States, 270 U. S. 175 , 270 U. S. 180 ) we need not now inquire. The circumstances presented by this record do not show that the assured was deceived or misled to his detriment, or that he had adequate reason to suppose his contract would not be enforced, or that the forfeiture provided for by the policy could be waived. New York Life Insurance Co. v. Eggleston, 96 U. S. 572 ; Phoenix Mut. Life Insurance Co. v. Doster, 106 U. S. 30 . The grounds upon which estoppel or waiver are ordinarily predicated are not shown to exist.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.