Hildebrand v. Franklin Life Insurance Co.
Illinois Appellate Court
455 N.E.2d 553 (1983)
Facts
Stephen Hildebrand applied for and paid the premium to obtain a life-insurance policy from Franklin Life Insurance Company (Franklin) (defendant). Franklin gave Stephen a conditional receipt, which stated that coverage would be retroactive to the date of application, provided that a subsequent check by Franklin’s underwriters showed that Stephen met all of Franklin’s conditions for insurability. Stephen was killed while Franklin’s determination was still pending. After learning of Stephen’s death, the company launched a special inquiry, which found that Stephen’s application concealed a dismal driving record, which made him a poor insurance risk. Franklin rejected Stephen’s application. Stephen’s mother and beneficiary, Judith Ann Hildebrand (Judith) (plaintiff), sued Franklin. The trial judge instructed the jury that Franklin had to prove that its underwriting policies conformed to an ordinarily prudent person’s reasonable expectations and that it processed Stephen’s application promptly and according to its regular procedures. The jury returned its verdict for Judith, and Franklin appealed to the Illinois Appellate Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Miller, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 705,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 44,300 briefs, keyed to 983 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
