Howard v. Sovereign Camp of the Woodmen of the World

Citations

• 107 Kan. 551
• 192 P. 759
• 1920 Kan. LEXIS 119

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Fraternal Insurance — By-laws—Insured Changing to More Hazardous Occupation — Evidence. The jury’s finding that the holder of a fraternal beneficiary certificate of life insurance had not changed his occupation from that of a common laborer to a more hazardous employment is not in conflict with the evidence disclosed by the record, and the record fails to show conclusively that there was such change in the nature of the deceased’s occupation.</p> <p>2. Same — Change to More Hazardous Occupation — Knowledge hy Company — No Formal Notice Necessary. Where a by-law of a fraternal insurance society provided that where a member changed his occupation to one more hazardous he should notify the clerk of the local society to that effect, and thereafter pay a higher rate of assessment, and that his contract of insurance should be void unless he did so, it is held that where the clerk (and the other officers) of the local society knew of deceased’s change of occupation — if there was in fact such change — and for several years thereafter continued to accept his regular monthly assessments at the old rate, without demand for the, higher rate, and the insured met his death through natural causes wholly unrelated to his employment, the society cannot avoid its liability to pay the insurance.</p>