Cosmopolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Koegel

Citations

• 104 Va. 619
• 52 S.E. 166
• 1905 Va. LEXIS 142

Syllabus

<p>1. Life Insurance — What Constitutes — Code, Bee. 3251. — A contract by which a benefit society agrees to pay a certain sum of money, on the death of a member, in consideration of the payment by the member of fixed sums at fixed periods, by whatever name called, is a life insurance policy within the meaning of Code (1904), Sec. 3251, permitting a complaint to be filed instead of a declaration in a formal action at law, and is not a mere certificate of membership in a benefit society within the purview of Acts, 1897-’S, p. 734.</p> <p>2. Life Insurance — Re-insurance—Action by Policy Holder — Privity.— Where one company, for value, contracts to pay all losses sustained or to be sustained by another b,y reason of policies issued by the latter, the holder of a policy issued by the latter, may sue on the policy issued to him and recover from the first mentioned company damages for the breach. The law creates the duty and supplies the needed consideration wherever one party has money or property in his hands which in equity and good conscience belongs to another.</p> <p>3. Life Insurance' — Re-insurance—Code, Sec. 3251. — Where one company, for value, contracts specifically to pay a loss sustained by another under a policy of insurance issued by it, the policy becomes the contract of the first mentioned company, and the measure of its liability to the policy holder, and section 3251 of the Code premit-ting a complaint instead of a declaration to be filed is applicable to an action on it.</p> <p>4. Insurance — Code, Sec. 3251 and 3252 Applicable to Procedure.- — • Sections 3251 and 3252 of the Code relating to actions on insurance policies are no part of the Insurance laws of this State within meaning of the act relating to benefit societies (Acts, 1897-8, ch. 688), but simply relate to modes of procedure in a certain class of actions.</p> <p>5. Pleading — Declaration—What Sufficient, — A declaration is 'sufficient which contains sufficient matter to enable the plainti