United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Home Life Ins. Co. v. Fisher, 188 U.S. 726 (1903)

Home Life Insurance Company v. Fisher

No. 121

Submitted December 17, 1902

Decided February 23, 1903

188 U.S. 726

Syllabus

The company defended an action on a policy of life insurance on the ground that statements of the insured as to his use of liquor and spirits in the application and in the declaration to the medical examiner were false and amounted to a breach of warranty, but it appeared that the warranty did not extend to the medical declaration; the jury were instructed that, if they found either that, before the. insured made application he drank liquors either freely or to excess, or at the time that he made the application he had a habit of drinking liquor, they were to find for the company, the declaration and the application thus being put on the same footing; the jury found for the plaintiff; held, that the jury must be taken to have found categorically that all of the answers were correct, and the question whether they were warranties or not became immaterial, and the verdict could not be reviewed except for improper instructions duly excepted to.

Page 188 U. S. 727

The case is stated in the opinion.