Teutonia Life Insurance v. Anderson

Citations

• 77 Ill. 384

Syllabus

<p>1. Insurance—recital of payment in policy estops the company from denying the fact. An insurance company, on grounds of public policy, will be estopped to prove, in avoidance of their contract of insurance, that the premium acknowledged in the policy to have been paid, was not, in fact, paid.</p> <p>2. Same—waiver to right to declare a forfeiture. Where an association insured the life of one of its members under an agreement, -with an insurance company that the association would be responsible for the payment of the premiums quarterly on all policies, the same to be paid out of weekly dues from its members, it was held, that- a failure on the part of the assured to pay his weekly dues would authorize the association, at the end of a quarter, to have the policy cancelled, and that the company, on the non-payment of any quarterly premium, had the right to declare a forfeiture under the contract, but if it failed to do so, it would be presumed that it chose to carry the risk on the responsibility of the association to pay, and that upon the death of the assured, the liability of the insurance company became fixed, and it could, by no subsequent act, avoid the policy.</p>