Court Opinion

ID: 9763412
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:44:32.012912+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:42.483323
License: Public Domain

PEEPLES, Justice,
dissenting.
I would affirm the judgment and hold that the evidence shows misrepresentation as a matter of law.
On the issue of intent to deceive, the evidence shows the insured told his treating doctor about his problems in mid-February but he did not tell the insurance company about the same problems and treatment when he applied for life insurance on March 10. He was taking prescription medicine for the condition at the very time that he denied to the examining insurance doctor that he was taking any medicine! In other words, at a time when he had fresh awareness that he was seeing a doctor, taking medication, and being treated for diabetes, he denied these things to the insurance company examiner, who would determine whether he could purchase life insurance. In sum, he admitted things to his treating doctor that he denied to his insurance examining doctor just a few weeks later. He told the examining doctor that he was not seeing another doctor, even though he had seen the treating doctor less than one month before and was still taking medicine prescribed by him.
Taken together, these undisputed facts prove misrepresentation as a matter of law and distinguish the case from Diggs and Flowers, on which the majority relies.