Year: 1876

Life insurance, 20 beneficial in opera
ton, is curtailed, and lesseaed by the
disposition Of companies to litigate,
claims made upon them. In practice, in
which insurance cases from considerable
part, We never knew of fraudulent life
insurance claim presented; but we have
known many honest ones, contested by
insurance companies. The great wrong
consists in contesting claim the insured
dead man, or woman could have settled
by one word, and compelling the repres-
entatives Of the insured, to prove almost
impossible facts. This is SO sensibly
telling upon insurance business; that at
the last National Convention of the Life
Agents, held in New York city, a promi-
nent and representative insurance author
ity submitted, and supported by an able
address, series of resolutions setting
forth the evil and loss Of the frequent
contests made by the companies in con-
nectioa with the payment Of policies, and
urging that hereafter any company which
had for certain term accepted the pre-
miums on policy should stand by the
contract 30 made, and not, after death, re-
fuse payment on plea of fraud or mis-
representation, which should have been
entered before the real defendant was
dead, and beyond the power of defending
himself. The resolutions, however, were
not adopted, though it is notable fact
that such contests between insurers and
the heirs of the insured, have very ma
terially decreased in number within the
last twelvemonth. The companies have
seen that there was too much contesting,
and that wisdom or interest does net lie in
that direction.


Our next Legislature would very much
advance the interests Of both the In
urauce Companies doing business within
our borders, and our own citizens, by enact.
ing law like unto that passed by the Leg
islature sf Kansas last month. The text
Of which we give in full:


Section /. All insurance policies, wheth.
er life, fire, or accident issued by any in
surance company doing business in the
State Of Kansas, upon property or upon
the lives of persons in this State, shall
have each limitation, condition, or re-
striction contained in it, whereby in any
manner the contract of insurance is limi-
ted or conditioned, separately written or
printed, and if printed, it shall be printed
in the same type as the largest typo in the
policy, except that in which the name of
the company is printed, and no such linn
itatlon, condition, or restriction shall be
binding on the insured unless it be SO sep
arately or signed by the insured.


Section 2. No condition, Limitation, or
restriction in any policy of insurance men
toned in section of this act shall be of
any force or effect unless tho event men
toned in it shall as question of fact in
crease the risk or hazard,


Section 8. Where policies are made pay.
able to others than the insured, no act of
the insured after the delivery of the policy
and after the assignment Of the same for
the benefit Of the other person shall forfeit
or void it.


Section 4. No policy of insurance shall
be voided for any fraudulent representa-
tions or for any breach of warranty on the
part Of the insured, unless within six
months from the payment of the first pre-
miums on such policies, the company
issuing such policies shall tender to the
insured the premiums so paid and demand
surrender Of the policy.


This law affords mutual protection, and
justice to both, injured and insurers. In
making the policy perfectly clear and in.
telligible, and no covert stipulations per.
mitted to be inserted in small type, and 80.
cluded positions in the policy, it remedie.
an evil Of great magnitude. The provision
which protects any voidance of the policy
Of the company, has more
than six months before accepted
payment Of premiums, relieve.
life insurance from the one great objection
that the policy may involve ones widow
or children in costly lawsuit.


We are quite certain that such 3 Law