Stepp v. National Life, &c., Ass'n

Citations

• 37 S.C. 417
• 16 S.E. 134
• 1892 S.C. LEXIS 35

Syllabus

<p>1. Admissions by Pleadings—Proof.—There is no error on the part of the trial judge in failing to require proof by plaintiff of matters alleged in the complaint and admitted in the answer.</p> <p>2. Ibid.—Non-Suit—Further Testimony.—On the close of plaintiff’s testimony in chief at the trial, in an action on a life insurance policy, the defendant moved for a non-suit on the ground that the policy had not been put in evidence. The trial judge then permitted the plaintiff to introduce the policy. Held, that this was within the judge’s discretion ; and, moreover, the policy having been made a part of the complaint by exhibit, and admitted by the answer, proof of it was unnecessary.</p> <p>3. Production of Policy—Presumption.—The introduction at the trial of the policy sued on by the beneficiary, raises a presumption, subject to rebuttal by defendant, that the terms of the policy have been complied with.</p> <p>4. Hearsay Evidence.—-An agent of an insurance company at the home office cannot testify to matters which passed between the insured and the agent of the company at the home of the assured, at a distant point, as to the taking of a note for the premium and its non-payment at maturity, as these matters could have been known to the witness only by hearsay.</p> <p>5. Ibid.—Opinion-Evidence.—An agent of an insurance company at the home office, who knows nothing of his own knowledge as to the conditions1 of an insurance except that which the policy discloses, cannot testify as to the terms and conditions of the insurance, and the effect of the non-payment of a premium note, and whether the policy was in force when the insured died, as such testimony would be opinion as to the meaning of the policy, or else hearsay.</p> <p>6. Evidence—Insolvency.—In answer to a general interrogatory, “If you know anything further that would benefit the defendant, declare the same fully,” the witness answered at large as to the custom of the company, its instructions to agents, and th