jury assignment (A)

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THE CASE OF THE DRIVER WHO HAD ONE TOO MANY

Sam was insured under a life insurance contract policy that excluded death due to suicide. The policy had a face amount of $1 million. Two weeks after taking out the policy, Sam was driving home from his promotion party while intoxicated. He lost control of his car when a dog ran in the road and was killed when the car hit a utility pole. There was no one else involved in the accident. The weather was clear and the road was in good shape and well lighted. Sam’s insurance company refused to pay and Sam’s wife sued the company to force payment.

The Trial

Testimony at the trial proved conclusively that Sam was legally intoxicated when he left the party. There was also proof that there was nothing in the policy about lack of coverage in the event of an accident due to intoxication.m

The Arguments at Trial

The insurance company’s attorneys argued that benefit provisions apply only to death due to accidents – unintended and unavoidable mishaps - and that, although Sam appeared to have been in an accident, his death was due to his being intoxicated and therefore not an accident. They further argued that this concept was so logical that it did not need spelling out in the insurance policy. The estate’s attorneys argued that because the policy was silent about accidents due to intoxication, the benefit provision should apply regardless of the cause of the accident. The parties had a contract and all exclusions must be spelled out in the contract in order to be effective.

Questions to Discuss

  1. Who do you think has the stronger argument, the insurance company or Sam’s estate? Why?
  2. If you were the jury hearing this case, how would you decide? Why?
  3. What do you think the rule regarding coverage of accidents due to use of drugs or excessive alcohol should be?

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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

Surname 1

Student’s name
Professor
Course
Due date
Law of contracts
1. Who do you think has the strongest argument, the insurance company or Sam’s estate?
Regarding the agreement terms by the insurance company, Sam’s estate has a
stronger argument simply because when he was engaging in the agreement with the
insurance company, they did not set the conditions or the circumstances under which a
compensation is warranted or not in case of an accident. With view of law of contracts,
an agreement breach cannot occur unless one of the involved parties does not adhere to
the rules or conditions of the contract. Therefore in the case of Sam, Sam’s wife should
get compensation retrospective that there is no breach of contractual agreement under
general rule. Circumstance of Sam’s death was not suicidal since he lost control as a
result of a dog running across the road which makes it an accident. The insurance
company’s attorney argument that Sam intoxication with alcohol is largely to blame for
the accident do not hold. Aforementioned, the initial contractual terms did not specify the
conditions under which an incidence can be regarded as an accident and under what
circumstances or condition will compensation not warrant in an accident situation.
Therefore, the insurance company, in this case, intends to breach the contract since they
are reluctant to fulfill the set terms of the agreement to compensate Sam’s wife. Despite
the correct argument of the insurance company attorney, I think that the evidence cannot
be used to defend insurer since the kind of accusation placed on Sam does not apply in

Law of contracts

2

the particular case. It is the government that should deal with the irresponsible behavior
that led to Sam’s accident hence the insurance Company should not use it to their
defense, but instead, they need to use the information contained in the contract.
2. If you were the jury hearing this case, how would you decide? Why?
If I were the jury I would consider the plai...


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