Landis v. Colonial Life Ins. Co. of America

Citations

• 74 Pa. Super. 560
• 1920 Pa. Super. LEXIS 199

Syllabus

<p>Contracts — Agency—Insurance agents — Construction.</p> <p>A contract with an agent for tbe collection of industrial insurance provided for two kinds of compensation, an ordinary salary of 15 per cent of tbe agent’s weekly collections and a special salary for tbe net increase of business, through writing new insurance. Under tbe terms of the contract, tbe agent agreed to send to tbe home office, each week, on a proper form a list of all policies upon which four weeks’ premiums were due at tbe time of making up tbe account, and to be held pecuniarily responsible for the policies lapsed through arrears, in excess of tbe limit provided by tbe company. It further provided that on Monday of each week tbe agent was to be charged with tbe amount of tbe weekly premiums shown on tbe registry list, less tbe total amount of tbe weekly premiums on policies which bad lapsed. Tbe contract also stipulated that the company was not bound to prove that the agent bad received tbe premiums. Under such circumstances, tbe agent was entitled to credit for the four weeks’ premiums not collected by him, where tbe defaults in payments resulted in tbe lapse of tbe policy, but was chargeable for all premiums due on policies in force at tbe time of tbe accounting. Under tbe terms of tbe contract be was charged with all the premiums for policies in force on tbe register, and to allow him to prove that certain premiums bad not actually been collected by him, and were not chargeable against him, constituted reversible error.</p> <p>Where the agent accepted business of other agents and entered such collections upon his books, such policies must be treated in the same way as business originally secured by him.</p>