Court Opinion

ID: 9624376
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:01:12.529099+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:52:11.078112
License: Public Domain

On Rehearing.
PER CURIAM.
Since the promulgation of the opinion herein on December 16, 1952, the defendant in error has strenuously urged on rehearing that the rules of construction discussed in said opinion are not here applicable because of various statutory provisions, particularly 36 O.S. 1941 §§ 422, 425 and 428. In this connection, an examination of the statutes discloses that mutual insurance corporations and mutual insurance associations do not come within the same category nor are they regulated by the same laws. Sections 421 to 432 deal with associations, not corporations. The latter are regulated by sections 321 to 391 of said Title 36.
The primary distinction between the two, of importance herein, is in the requirement that an applicant for membership and insurance in an association must be approved by the governing board before being accepted for either; whereas, an applicant for insurance in a mutual corporation is not issued such a policy unless he is qualified by (among other things) being a member of a farm bureau. In the former, the accepted applicants become members; in the latter, they become stockholders. Therefore, as to mutual insurance corporations, the statutes, as regarding stock companies, are generally applicable, except as specifically provided, one provision being that insurance policies shall only be issued to a particular class (farm bureau members) .
In the case at bar, the defendant below was a mutual corporation, not an association. There is nothing in the record to indicate that the applicant, plaintiff below, was not qualified to be insured when the application was made. The only direct evidence on the point is a copy of the report of the agent to the home office stating that plaintiff was a member of the Garvin County Farm Bureau.
The statutes relied upon'by defendant as above cited are not here applicable and the petition for rehearing is denied.