Court Opinion

ID: 9855942
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:34:37.52813+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:37:18.563953
License: Public Domain

Marshall, Justice,
dissenting.
In my opinion, a careful reading of Stillson and its progeny requires a holding that the superior court erred in denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment here.
Stillson does hold that the insurer is generally considered estopped to assert the falsity of answers to questions contained in an insurance policy application, where the applicant for insurance answered the questions correctly and the insurance agent inserted false answers either through fraud or negligence. However, Stillson itself recognizes that an estoppel does not arise against the insurer when the insured is chargeable with fraud, collusion, actual knowledge of the contents of the application, or constructive knowledge. 202 Ga. at p. 83.
Thus, in Stillson a jury would have been authorized to find that fraud practiced by the insurance agent prevented the insured from reading the answers to the questions contained in the application. In such cases as Tallent v. Safeco Ins. Co., 99 Ga. App. 11 (107 SE2d 331) (1959) and Barber v. All American Assur. Co., 89 Ga. App. 270 (79 SE2d 48) (1953), a jury would have been authorized in finding that negligence chargeable to the insurance agent prevented the insured from reading the contents of the application.
Where, as here, the insured has read and signed the application after the false answers have been inserted, the insured is chargeable with constructive knowledge thereof. And even if there has been any negligence on the part of the insurance agent, the insured is guilty of contributory negligence. Under these circumstances, the insurance company should not be estopped.
I think that the holdings of this court in Stillson represent a *114careful balance between the competing interests of insureds and insurance companies. This balance is upset where an insured who has read and signed the insurance application is allowed to use the estoppel doctrine as a means of preventing the insurance company from asserting misrepresentation as a defense. This allows an insured to create insurance coverage, even for risks that otherwise might be virtually uninsurable, simply by asserting that he gave the correct answers to the insurance agent and the insurance agent marked the application incorrectly. The insured may not win every case, but he gets to the jury every time. I, therefore, respectfully dissent.