Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America v. Union Trust Co.
Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America v. Union Trust Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This action was initiated by bill in equity upon which the chancellor had a common pleas jury answer two questions in a special verdict, which was adopted and resulted in a monetary decree for the plaintiff, and the guardian-defendant appealed.
The plaintiff issued an insurance policy to Raymondi, one of the defendants, and the contract contained a provision for the payment of monthly sums in the event of total disability. • In 1928 the insured furnished proof, acceptable to the plaintiff, of such disability, and the insurer made the stipulated payments
The plaintiff sought, inter alia, to recover the payments which it had made to Raymondi from June 12, 1942, to June 12, 1944. Both the common pleas jury and the chancellor found that from June 12, 1942, to and past June 12, 1944, Raymondi had engaged in an occupation for remuneration or profit, to wit, the operation of pin ball and record-playing machines of the coin-in-slot variety. He owned and operated some twelve pin ball machines which were of the value of from $300 to $350 each. He employed a regular mechanic to service these. These facts were not in dispute and the findings of the jury and the chancellor have ample evidence to sustain them. Incidentally, the evidence also showed that Raymondi had received a jail sentence for operating a disorderly house and for writing “numbers.”
Raymondi did not take the stand and offered no testimony of his inability to manage and operate this business. Nor did he give any testimony as to his income therefrom. This, of course, weighed against him: Dommes v. Zuroski, 350 Pa. 206, 38 A. 2d 73. This is not a case of a man performing some minor duties in operating a store owned by him, as in Cantor v. Metropolitan L. Ins. Co., 108 Pa. Superior Ct. 1, 164 A. 145; nor of one who drives his automobile and gives directions to an employe, as in Kramer v. Travelers Insurance Co., 111 Pa. Superior Ct. 367, 170 A. 700; nor the case of one doing light work or delivering occasional coal orders, as in Milich v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 145 Pa. Superior Ct. 430, 21 A. 2d 458. In the present case the defendant-insured was the active operator of the business which he owned.
Decree affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.