-CASE DIGEST-
Sun Insurance Office Ltd. vs. CA
G.R. No. 92383
July
17, 1992
Principle: Contributory negligence of the accused as
to his death is not suicide or willful exposure to needless peril that would
excuse the insurer from the payment of claims.
FACTS: Felix Lim, Jr. had a life insurance policy with
Sun Insurance, with his wife Nerissa Lim, as beneficiary. Two months after its
issuance, Lim died of gunshot. His secretary testified that, on the eve of his
mother’s birthday, Lim was playing with his handgun, he removed the magazine
thereon and playfully pointed that gun at her, and the secretary pushed it
aside saying the gun might be loaded. Lim assured her that the gun was empty,
he pointed it to his temple, what followed was a fatal explosion. Nerissa filed
a claim with Sun Insurance. The latter denied on ground that the cause of Lim’s
death was not an accident, i.e. it was a death consequent upon “the insured
person attempting to commit suicide or willfully exposing himself to needless
peril.”
ISSUE: Whether or not Sun Insurance be absolved of
liability on ground that Lim willfully exposed himself to needless peril.
RULING: No. Suicide and willful exposure to needless peril
are in pari materia because they both signify a disregard for one’s life. The
only difference is in degree, as suicide imports a positive act of ending such
life whereas the second act indicates a reckless risking of it that is almost
suicidal in intent.
In this case, as the secretary testified, Lim had
removed the magazine from the gun and believed it was no longer dangerous. He
expressly assured her that the gun was not loaded. It is submitted that Lim did
not willfully expose himself to needless peril when he pointed the gun to his
temple because the fact is that he thought it was not unsafe to do so.
What bars the insured from recovering from the insurer
on account of his own acts is a deliberate exposure to a known peril. While Lim
was unquestionably negligent, this negligence does not bar his wife from
recovering from proceeds of the policy from the insurer. Contributory
negligence is not one of the grounds enumerated in the policy exonerating the
insurer from liability.
No comments:
Post a Comment