Phoenix Mut Life Ins Co v. Raddin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 federal appellate · 1 district · 84 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 113 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Answers to questions propounded by the insurers in an application for insurance, unless they are clearly shown by the form of the contract to have been intended by both parties to be warranties, to be strictly and literally complied with, are to be construed as representations, as to which substantial truth in everything material to the risk is all that is required of the applicant. Moulor v. American Ins. Co., 111 U.S. 335 [4 S.Ct. 466, 28 L.Ed. 447]; Campbell v. New England Ins. Co., 98 Mass. 381; Thomson v. Weems, 9 App.Cas. 671. 44 "The misrepresentation or concealment by the assured of any material fact entitles the insurers to avoid the policy. But the parties may by their contract make material a fact that would otherwise be immaterial, or make immaterial a fact that would otherwise be material. Whether there is other insurance on the same subject, and whether such insurance has been applied for and refused, are material facts, at least when statements regarding them are required by the insurers as part of the basis of the contract. * * *”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bernadean Pittman, Administratrix, Joseph John Leavey, Sr., and Juanita Leavey v. West American Insurance Company, a Corporation

2. ““It follows that the onty question upon the instructions of the coiirt to the jury, which is open to the defendant on this bill of exceptions, is whether, if insurers accept payment of a premium after they know that there has been a breach of a condition of the policy, their acceptance of the premium is a waiver of the right to avoid the policy for that breach. “Upon principle and authority, there can be no doubt that it is. To hold otherwise would be to maintain that the contract of insurance requires good faith of the assured only, .and not of the insurers, and to permit insurers, knowing all the facts, to contimie to receive new benefits from the contract while they decline to bear its burdens.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Gish v. Insurance Co. of North America

3. ““Where an answer of the applicant to a direct question of the insurers purports to be a complete answer to the question, any substantial misstatement or omission in the answer avoids a policy issued on the faith of the application. [Citing cases.] But where upon the face of the application a question appears to be not answered at all, or to be imperfectly answered, and the insurers issue a policy without further inquiry, they waive the want or imperfection in the answer, and render the omission to answer more fully immaterial.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. French v. Fidelity & Casualty Co.