Re-enacts s. 43A.

Amends s. 43B.

tendent for inspection. Where a contract or policy of insurance within this section is not kept in the Province, it shall be the duty of the person effecting the insurance to keep within the Province a record showing all particulars of the contract or policy, and that record shall be subject to inspection and shall be produced as aforesaid: "(c.) No return made by any person under this section shall be open for inspection by any person except the officers appointed under this Act whose duty it is to inspect the same, and every such officer shall keep secret all returns made and information obtained under this section, except in so far as his public duty requires him to report upon or take official action with regard thereto."

4. Section 43A of said chapter 113, as enacted by section 4 of chapter 28 of the Statutes of 1916, is repealed, and the following is substituted therefor:

"43A. (1.) Every company licensed under this Act shall keep such books with respect to its contracts and its business in the Province as the Minister may direct, and upon a report of the Superintendent that a company is not keeping such books in a proper manner, the Minister may appoint a competent accountant to audit and report to him on those books, and to instruct the company how to keep them correctly. The expenses of the accountant shall not exceed a sum at the rate of ten dollars a day and his necessary travelling expenses, and his account, when certified by the Minister, shall be paid forthwith to him by the company.

"(2.) The Superintendent and every person authorized by him in writing shall at all reasonable times have access to and may examine and take copies of and extracts from all such books, securities, and documents of a company licensed under this Act as relate to its contracts and its business within the Province, and it shall be the duty of every person in possession, custody, or control of any such book, security, or document to afford access pursuant to this subsection, and in case of refusal or neglect to afford such access the company, in addition to every other penalty to which any such person or the company is liable under this Act, shall be liable to have its licence suspended or cancelled by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council."

5. Section 43в of said chapter 113, as enacted by section 4 of chapter 28 of the Statutes of 1916, is amended by adding at the end of subsection (4) the words "and shall include an officer or salaried employee of the company requested by an agent as aforesaid to sign or countersign a policy on his behalf, the agent being authorized by the company to make the request."

VICTORIA, B.C.:

Printed by WILLIAM H. CULLIN, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.

1923.

An Act to make Uniform the Law respecting Life
Insurance Contracts.

H'

[Assented to 21st December, 1923.]

IS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Preliminary.

1. This Act may be cited as the "Life Insurance Act."

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:-
"Beneficiary" means a person designated or appointed as one
to whom or for whose benefit insurance-money is to be
payable:

"Contract" or

"contract of insurance" means a contract of

life insurance:

"Contract of life insurance means a contract by which the
insurer undertakes with the insured to pay insurance-
money contingently on the death, or on the duration of
the life, of a designated human being:

"Court" means the Supreme Court or a Judge thereof:
"Declaration" means an instrument in writing signed by the
insured, attached to or endorsed on a policy, or an instru-
ment in writing, signed by the insured in any way identify-
ing the policy or describing the subject of the declaration
as the insurance or insurance fund or a part thereof or as
the policy or policies of the insured or using language of
like import, by which the insured designates or appoints a
beneficiary or beneficiaries, or alters or revokes the designa-
tion or appointment of a beneficiary or beneficiaries, or
apportions or reapportions, or appropriates or reappro-
priates, insurance-money between or among beneficiaries:

Short title.

Interpretation.

Application of Act.

"Foreign jurisdiction" means any jurisdiction other than the

Province:

"Fraternal society" means a corporation, society, order, or
voluntary association incorporated or formed and carried
on for the benefit of its members and their beneficiaries
and not for profit, which makes provision by its constitu-
tion and laws for payment to beneficiaries of benefits on
the death or disability of its members:

"Instrument in writing" includes a last will:
"Insurance" means life insurance:

"Insurance-money" includes all insurance-money, benefits,
surplus, profits, dividends, bonuses, and annuities payable
by an insurer under a contract of insurance:

"Insured" means the person who makes a contract of insurance
with an insurer, and, unless the context otherwise requires,
includes the person whose life is insured:

"Insurer" includes any corporation, or any society or associa-
tion, incorporated or unincorporated, any fraternal society,
or any person or partnership, or any underwriter or group
of underwriters, that undertakes or effects, or agrees or
offers to undertake or effect, a contract of insurance:
"Judge" means a Judge of the Court:

"Person" includes firm, partnership, corporation, and unincor
porated society or association:

"Premium" means the single or periodical payment to be made for the insurance, and includes dues and assessments.

3. (1.) Notwithstanding any agreement, condition, or stipulation to the contrary, this Act shall apply to every contract of life insurance made in the Province after the coming into force of this Act, and any term in any such contract inconsistent with the provisions of this Act shall be null and void.

(2.) Unless hereinafter otherwise specifically provided, this Act shall apply to the unmatured obligations of every contract of life insurance made in the Province before the coming into force of this Act.

(3.) This Act shall apply to every other contract of life insurance made after the coming into force of this Act, where the contract provides that this Act shall apply or that the contract shall be construed or governed by the law of the Province.

(4.) Where this Act applies to any contract, the rights and status of beneficiaries and the powers of the insured with regard to the designation or appointment of beneficiaries and the apportionment of the insurance-money shall be governed by the provisions of this Act, whether or not the insured or any of the beneficiaries is domiciled in the Province at the time at which the contract is made, or at any time subsequent thereto.

4. A contract is deemed to be made in the Province :-

Contracts deemed to be made in

(a.) If the place of residence of the insured is stated in the the Province. application or the policy to be in the Province; or

(b.) If neither the application nor the policy contains a statement as to the place of residence of the insured, but the actual place of residence of the insured is within the Province at the time of the making of the contract.

The Contract of Insurance.

5. Every contract of insurance shall be evidenced by an instru- Policy to evidence ment in writing, called in this Act a "policy."

a contract.

of policy.

6. (1.) Every policy issued after the coming into force of this Contents Act by an insurer other than a fraternal society shall state the name or sufficient designation of the insured, of the person whose life is insured, and of the beneficiary, the insurance-money payable, the manner of payment, the premium, and the facts which determine the maturity of the contract.

policy for less

(2.) Where the amount of insurance-money, exclusive of dividends Payment of and bonus, is less than one thousand dollars, the policy, notwith- than $1,000. standing that it is expressed to be payable to a named or designated beneficiary, may provide that the insurance-money may be paid to any relative by blood or connection by marriage of the insured or any other person appearing to the insurer to be equitably entitled to the same by reason of having incurred expense for the maintenance, medical attendance, or burial of the insured, or to have a claim against the estate of the insured in relation thereto.

7. (1.) Except in the case of a contract made with a fraternal society, no term or condition of a contract of insurance which is not set out in full in the policy or in a document or documents in writing attached to it, when issued, shall be valid or admissible in evidence to the prejudice of the insured or a beneficiary.

Invalidity of

terms not set out

in policy.

alterations.

(2.) Subsection (1) shall not apply to an alteration or modifica- Subsequent tion of the contract agreed upon in writing by the insurer and the insured after the issue of the policy.

fraternal societies.

(3.) In the case of a contract of insurance made by a fraternal Contracts of society, the Act or instrument of incorporation (if any), the constitution and laws of the society and any amendments validly made to them or any of them, and the application and medical examination signed by the applicant shall constitute the contract between the society and its member.

misrepresentation

8. (1.) The insured and the person whose life is insured shall Disclosure and cach disclose to the insurer every fact within his knowledge which of material facts. is material to the contract.

(2.) Any conscious failure to disclose, or any misrepresentation of, a fact material to the contract, on the part of the insured or the

11

Contract not void unless fact material.

Incontestability.

Misstatement of age.

person whose life is insured, shall render the contract voidable at the instance of the insurer.

(3.) Any misrepresentation or fraudulent concealment on the part of the insurer of a fact material to the contract shall render the contract voidable at the instance of the insured.

9. (1.) No contract shall be rendered void or voidable by reason of any misrepresentation, or any failure to disclose on the part of the insured or the person whose life is insured, in the application for the insurance or on the medical examination or otherwise, unless the misrepresentation or failure to disclose is material to the contract.

(2.) The question of materiality shall be one of fact.

10. The statements made by the insured, or the person whose life is insured, in the application and on the medical examination, except fraudulent statements or statements erroneous as to age, shall be deemed to be true and incontestable after the contract has been in force for two years during the lifetime of the person whose life is insured.

11. (1.) Where the age of the person whose life is insured is understated in the application, the insurance-money shall be reduced to the amount which would have been payable in respect of the premium stated in the policy at the correct age, according to the tables of rates of premium of the insurer in force at the time of the issue of the policy.

(2.) Where such tables of rates of premium of the insurer do not extend to or include the rates for the correct age of the person whose life is insured, the insurance-money shall be reduced in the proportion that the premium at the age stated in the application bears to the premium at the correct age, both premiums for this purpose being the net premiums shown in or deduced from the British Offices Life Table, 1893, Oм(5), the rate of interest being three and one-half per cent. per annum, or, at the option of the insurer, both premiums for this purpose being calculated on the same principles as govern the calculation of premiums for ages mentioned in the table of rates of premium of the insurer in force at the time of the issue of the policy.

(3.) Where the age of the person whose life is insured is overstated in the application, and the policy does not provide that in that event the insurance-money shall be increased, the insurer shall repay the amount by which the premium paid exceeds the premium which would have been payable in respect of the correct age, but if the policy so provides, the insurance-money shall be increased to the amount which would have been payable in respect of the premium stated in the policy at the correct age according to the tables of