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A typical case was Rogers v.Phoenix Ins.Co.(1890),where a "one-story,shingle-roof,frame building,'owned by Edward and mary Roger,burnt down.When they applied for insurance,they had said the house was fifteen years old.The policy stated that "every statement ... is a warranty...and if any false statements are made ,this policy shall be void."The company argued(among other things)that the house was 20 years old,and the policy therefore void.The court held the statement was only a "representation,:and ,since it did not "render the risk more hazardous,"the policy stood firm.
, g: E4 k5 o$ ^( Q! NNot that the companies always lost .Some of the insured did lie ,and thus concealed facts that increased the risk.Some litigants were blocked by language so clear that it passed the limits of interpretation;judges were willing to transmute the sense of English words,but only up to a point.The case law ,as in industrial accident law,was therefore chaotic and complex.No one could predict the outcome of a major lawsuit .Uncertainty invited more lawsuits.The insurance contract,especially insurance on lives ,is drawn up for one violent end.No single claim is worth the company's while to pay.Nor is the goodwill of the company enough reason for a widow to give up her claim on her husband's policy,when the company refuses to pay.
c; d; h& o# ]% ^Meanwhile,states passed a torrent of statutes.Every aspect of the business was touched on by law . Some statutes plainly tried to benefit the companies,some the policy-holders;some compromised the interests of the two.On balance,however,regulation was unfriendly to the companies .Wisconsin,for example ,passed a law in 1870 requiring fire and marine insurance companies to keep strong reserves.The companies could not distribute profits until they had set aside'a sum equal to 100 percent of the premiums on unexpired policies."A Nebraska law (1889)required companies to pay off fire,tornado,and lightning insurance,at the value asserted by the policy ,which was to be "taken conclusively to be the ture value,"when the property,which was to be "taken conclusively to be the true value,"when the property was "wholly destroyed."
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The companies contested many of these regulatory laws in court.They were not very often successful.One estimate is that the courts,between 1890 and 1908,found only one percent of 2,000 statutes unconstitutional.
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发表于 2005-6-22 23:13:00
