Smith v. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance

Citations

• 196 Pa. 314
• 46 A. 426
• 1900 Pa. LEXIS 520

Syllabus

<p>Insurance — Life insurance — Statement as to health — Warranty.</p> <p>No principle of law will enable a party who guarantees a fact upon which a contract for insurance is based, which fact is afterwards found not to exist, to enforce the contract. He agrees to answer for the truth of the fact, and cannot escape on the ground of his mistake as to its existence.</p> <p>Where an applicant for life insurance.warrants that his answers shall be true, full and fair, and in answer to a question states that he had not since childhood had the disease or disorder of “ spitting or raising of blood,”' while the uncontradicted evidence was that he had spit blood, was frightened and had consulted a physician about it, the answer being, if not untrue, not full and fair, and, being material to the risk, avoided the policy, and in an action upon it the trial judge committed no error in giving binding instructions for the insurance company.</p>