Friday, July 13, 2012

Sunlife v CA G.R. No. 105135 June 22, 1995

J. Quiason

Facts:
Robert John B. Bacani procured a life insurance contract for himself from Sunlife. He was issued a policy for P100,000.00, with double indemnity in case of accidental death. The designated beneficiary was his mother, Bernarda Bacani.
The insured died in a plane crash. Respondent Bernarda Bacani filed a claim with petitioner, seeking the benefits of the insurance policy taken by her son. Petitioner conducted an investigation and its findings prompted it to reject the claim.
Sunlife informed Bacani that the insured did not disclose material facts relevant to the issuance of the policy, thus rendering the contract of insurance voidable. A check representing the total premiums paid in the amount of P10,172.00 was attached to said letter.
Petitioner claimed that the insured gave false statements in his application. The deceased answered claimed that he consulted a Dr. Raymundo of the Chinese General Hospital for cough and flu complications. The other questions were answered in the negative.
Petitioner discovered that two weeks prior to his application for insurance, the insured was examined and confined at the Lung Center of the Philippines, where he was diagnosed for renal failure. During his confinement, the deceased was subjected to urinalysis tests.
Bernarda Bacani and her husband filed an action for specific performance against petitioner with the RTC. The court ruled in favor of the spouses and ordered Sunlife to pay P100,000.00.
In ruling for private respondents, the trial court concluded that the facts concealed by the insured were made in good faith and under a belief that they need not be disclosed. The court also held that the medial history was irrelevant because it wasn’t medical insurance.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court. The appellate court ruled that petitioner cannot avoid its obligation by claiming concealment because the cause of death was unrelated to the facts concealed by the insured. Petitioner's motion for reconsideration was denied. Hence, this petition.

Issue: WON the insured was guilty of misrepresentation which made the contract void.

Held: Yes. Petition dismissed.

Ratio:
Section 26 of The Insurance Code required a party to a contract of insurance to communicate to the other, in good faith, all facts within his knowledge which are material to the contract and as to which he makes no warranty, and which the other has no means of ascertaining.
“A neglect to communicate that which a party knows and ought to communicate, is called concealment.”
“Materiality is to be determined not by the event, but solely by the probable and reasonable influence of the facts upon the party to whom communication is due, in forming his estimate of the disadvantages of the proposed contract or in making his inquiries.”
The terms of the contract are clear. The insured is specifically required to disclose to the insurer matters relating to his health.
The information which the insured failed to disclose were material and relevant to the approval and issuance of the insurance policy. The matters concealed would have definitely affected petitioner's action on his application, either by approving it with the corresponding adjustment for a higher premium or rejecting the same. Moreover, a disclosure may have warranted a medical examination of the insured by petitioner in order for it to reasonably assess the risk involved in accepting the application.
Vda. de Canilang v. Court of Appeals- materiality of the information withheld does not depend on the state of mind of the insured. Neither does it depend on the actual or physical events which ensue.
“Good faith" is no defense in concealment. The insured's failure to disclose the fact that he was hospitalized raises grave doubts about his eligibility. Such concealment was deliberate on his part.
The argument, that petitioner's waiver of the medical examination of the insured debunks the materiality of the facts concealed, is untenable.
Saturnino v. Philippine American Life Insurance " . . . the waiver of a medical examination [in a non-medical insurance contract] renders even more material the information required of the applicant concerning previous condition of health and diseases suffered, for such information necessarily constitutes an important factor which the insurer takes into consideration in deciding whether to issue the policy or not . . . "
Anent the finding that the facts concealed had no bearing to the cause of death of the insured, it is well settled that the insured need not die of the disease he had failed to disclose to the insurer. It is sufficient that his non-disclosure misled the insurer in forming his estimates of the risks of the proposed insurance policy or in making inquiries as held in Henson.

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