Case Digest (G.R. No. L-48049)
Facts:
Emilio Tan, Juanito Tan, Alberto Tan and Arturo Tan v. The Court of Appeals and the Philippine American Life Insurance Company, G.R. No. L-48049. June 29, 1989. The Supreme Court Third Division, Gutierrez, Jr., J., writing for the Court.On September 23, 1973, Tan Lee Siong applied for a life insurance policy for P80,000 with respondent Philippine American Life Insurance Company (Philamlife); Policy No. 1082467 was issued effective November 6, 1973 with the petitioners as beneficiaries. The insured died on April 26, 1975; the petitioners filed a claim with Philamlife, which on September 11, 1975 denied the claim, rescinded the policy and refunded the premiums, alleging concealment and misrepresentation in the insured’s application.
The petitioners then filed a complaint with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (I.C. Case No. 218) on November 27, 1975. After hearing, the Insurance Commissioner dismissed the complaint on August 9, 1977. The petitioners appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the Insurance Commissioner’s decision and dismissed the appeal for lack of merit. The petitioners thereafter filed a petition for review on certiorari with the Supreme Court pursuant to Rule 45, challenging the Court of Appeals’ affirmance and raising three principal assignments of error concerning (A) the insurer’s right to rescind after the insured’s death; (B) the alleged inconsistency of rescission with the pol...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was Philamlife barred from rescinding the life policy after the death of the insured by the incontestability provision of Section 48 of the Insurance Code?
- Did the evidence establish that the insured committed concealment or misrepresentation sufficient to justify rescission of the policy?
- Were the petitioners’ procedural and contract-based objections (failure to present medical examiners, waiver/ratification, and contract-of-adhesion/fine-print arguments) suffici...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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