The decision was based on the fact there was a failure to disclose unrelated health issues on the dead man’s insurance application.
“The plaintiff lost her partner 23 months and 12 days after completing an application for credit line life insurance,” read the court’s decision. “The death of Mr. Foreman was unrelated to any of the inaccurately answered questions contained in the application for life insurance. Had he passed away a month later the insurance would have been paid out. While it was a case of misrepresentation I certainly do not find that there was a fraud.”
The plaintiff Karen Cheetham claimed that she was due $97,500 from a policy on her late common-law husband, John Foreman – the money owed on a line of credit held by TD Canada Trust in both of their names.
The claim was denied on the basis that the application contained answers to health questions that misrepresented the true state of Foreman’s health – specifically, that he had answered not to a question about whether he’d been informed of certain health issues within the previous two years. (continued.)
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Foreman had been warned by his doctor of elevated cholesterol and asthma within the 24 month time period, and the insurer stated that the application for insurance would have been rejected had it been accurately completed.
“Regrettably, as difficult and tragic as the facts of this case are, the insurance company was within its rights to deny the claim,” the court said in dismissing the claim.
Foreman died from brain cancer on October 12, 2007. The court did note, however, that his death as unrelated to any of the health questions erroneously answered in the life insurance application – but TD Life was still within its rights to decline the payout of the policy.
