DAMAGES - INSURANCE CONTRACT - RIGHT TO RECOVER PRESENT WORTH OF FUTURE PAYMENTS ON LIFE POLICY

Authors

James W. Mehaffy, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

An insurance policy provided for the payment of 3 1/2 per cent interest on the amount due beneficiaries until they attained the age of 21, then payment of the entire amount. The policy also contained a double indemnity clause. The insured died under circumstances leaving it doubtful whether the double amount should be paid. Upon application by the guardian of the minor beneficiaries for payment of the double amount in the manner stipulated, the defendant company refused payment of more than the face value of the policy on the ground that the proofs of accidental death were not sufficient. Plaintiff guardian brought suit, alleging repudiation of the contract and claiming as damages the entire amount of the double indemnity in a lump sum. Held, there has been no such repudiation as will permit plaintiff to recover the entire amount at once. Beneficiaries are entitled to be paid only in the manner stipulated in the policy. Gulf Life Insurance Co. v. Weathersbee, 126 Fla. 568, 172 So. 235 (1937).

Recommended Citation

James W. Mehaffy, DAMAGES - INSURANCE CONTRACT - RIGHT TO RECOVER PRESENT WORTH OF FUTURE PAYMENTS ON LIFE POLICY, 36 Mich. L. Rev. 322 (1937).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol36/iss2/13