Court Opinion

ID: 9579695
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:57:37.377122+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:41.641773
License: Public Domain

Hall, Presiding Judge,
dissenting. The majority opinion begins by citing as the first authority for denying the motion for summary judgment two cases involving disputes on issues of fact. I see no relevance in these citations. It is true that because of rules governing the burden on a motion of summary judgment, this court has held that the motion is not normally an appropriate remedy in negligence cases involving close questions on the matters of negligence, assumption of risk, lack of ordinary care and comparative negligence. Wakefield v. A. R. Winter Co., 121 Ga. App. 259 (174 SE2d 178) and Hanchey v. Hart, 120 Ga. App. 677 *387(171 SE2d 918). To extend this principle to a contract case in which the facts are undisputed is to me incomprehensible. It is elementary law under both the Code and court decisions that "The construction of a contract is a question of law for the court.” Code § 20-701; Holt v. Clairmont Development Co., 222 Ga. 598 (151 SE2d 151); Bennett v. Kimsey, 218 Ga. 470 (128 SE2d 506). It is equally elementary that "It is the duty of courts to construe and enforce contracts as made, and not to make them for the parties.” Carr v. Louisville & N. R. Co., 141 Ga. 219, 222 (80 SE 716); Gray v. Aiken, 205 Ga. 649, 652 (54 SE2d 587); Wolverine Ins. Co. v. Jack Jordan, Inc., 213 Ga. 299, 303 (99 SE2d 95). As Justice Cardozo said, "We are not at liberty to revise while professing to construe.” Sun Printing &c. Assn. v. Remington Paper &c. Co., 235 N. Y. 338, 346 (139 NE 470).
"We do not write on a clean slate” in this case. United States v. South Buffalo R., 333 U. S. 771, 774 (68 SC 868, 92 LE 1077). There are many precedents on this question. For example, the majority has done exactly what the Supreme Court condemned in Woodmen of the World Life Ins. Society v. Etheridge, 223 Ga. 231 (154 SE2d 369). In an opinion written by the late Chief Justice Duckworth the court stated that to say a contract of insurance came into being "is to ignore parts of the documents and give effect to other parts plainly dependent upon the ignored parts for validity. . . An unambiguous policy requires no construction, and its plain terms must be given full effect even though they are beneficial to the insurer and detrimental to the insured.” Pp. 234, 235. As Justice Holmes said, "Every contract is the acceptance of some inequality.” Power Mfg. Co. v. Saunders, 274 U. S. 490, 498 (47 SC 678, 71 LE 1165). He also said "In most contracts men take the risk of events over which they have imperfect or no control.” Ferry v. Ramsey, 277 U. S. 88, 95 (48 SC 443, 72 LE 796).
The intent of the contracting parties is the written agreement and the words of the agreement are the symbols they use to manifest their intent. Let us look at the agreement. Under the general provisions of both the application and the policy, the life insurance coverage in this case would not become effective until the policy had been delivered. It was never delivered. The only exception is provided in both the application and the policy. The excep*388tion in the policy states: "If the first premium is paid in exchange for a conditional receipt on the date of the application, then this policy will become effective as provided in the conditional receipt.” The exception in the application states: "If the full first premium is paid in advance to an authorized agent of the company.while the proposed insured is in good health and the receipt on the form attached hereto delivered to the applicant, then the liability of the company shall be as stated in such receipt.” (Emphasis supplied.) It would seem that under any literary standard the terms of the receipt are made a part of both the application and the policy.
"The so-called binding receipt does not give unconditional immediate life insurance coverage. The provision that if the premium is paid in advance the insurance applied for will be paid if the applicant dies before the policy is issued, is contingent upon conditions expressed in the application and receipt.” 17 Encyclopedia of Georgia Law 583, Insurance, § 333. See also Justice Nesbit’s opinion in Mutual Benefit Life Ins. Co. v. Ruse, 8 Ga. 534, 544; McGlothin v. United States Nat. Life &c. Co., 36 Ga. App. 325 (3) (136 SE 535).
What are the conditions here? The conditional receipt contains the following unambiguous declarative sentence: "If a full first premium in accordance with the published rates of the company for the form of policy applied for has been paid at the time of making such application, and such payment is indicated thereon, the insurance, subject to the terms and conditions of the policy contract applied for and in use by the company at this date, shall take effect on the date hereof if non-medical or if medical examination is required, from date of completion of the examination, provided the application is completed as agreed therein and provided the applicant is on this date a risk acceptable to the company under its rules, limits and standards, on the plan, and provided further that applicant is on this date in good health; otherwise the payment evidenced hereby shall be returned upon demand and surrender of this receipt.” (Emphasis supplied.) The application and the undisputed evidence shows that two of these conditions were never met. The applicant elected to pay the premium quarterly, and it amounted to $45.40. The only amount paid "at the time of making such application” was a $10 deposit. The only payment "indicated thereon” was the $10 deposit. "Whatever *389the consequences we must accept the plain meaning of 'plain words.” States v. Brown, 206 U. S. 240, 244 (27 SC 620, 51 LE 1046).
Under the decisions of both this court and the Supreme Court, no contract of insurance came into existence under the terms of this receipt. Saddler v. Cotton States Life Sec. Ins. Co., 101 Ga. App. 866, 871 (115 SE2d 398); Reese v. Fidelity Mut. Life Assn., 111 Ga. 482 (36 SE 637); Mut. Reserve Fund Life Assn. v. Stephens, 115 Ga. 192 (41 SE 679); Penn Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Blount, 165 Ga. 193 (140 SE 496); Woodmen of the World Life Ins. Society v. Etheridge, 223 Ga. 231, supra.
Guest v. Kennesaw Life Sec. Ins. Co., 97 Ga. App. 840 (104 SE2d 633), in no way supports the majority opinion. The agent there did not receive a mere deposit but issued a receipt saying “Received . . . the sum of $6.25 for the full first premium.” Also neither the Guest application nor the receipt required endorsement on the face of the application that the full first premium had been paid.
Dunn v. Abrams, 97 Ga. 762, 763 (25 SE 766) is completely inapposite to the facts in this case. The only policy condition there was: "This policy shall not take effect until the first premium is paid while the insured is in good health.” The court held that a recital of nonpayment in the application was not conclusive as to the fact of payment, and since the premium was in fact paid, the condition was met and the policy was valid. Here the condition is that the full premium must be paid at the time the conditional receipt is issued and payment must be indicated thereon. Neither, in fact, was done. Further, the Dunn case was a suit on a note given by the policyholder to the agent for the amount of the premium, and it was the policyholder who claimed the policy was ineffective as part of his defense to the suit (failure of consideration).
What the majority of the court has done in this case is without precedent. Let us hope that it will also be without progeny.
I am authorized to state that Judges Eberhardt and Pannell concur in this dissent.