Dominguez v. Equitable Life Assurance

Facts

In 1973, the defendant issued the plaintiff a disability income policy of insurance which provided for $500 per month income for accidental total disability for the insured’s lifetime. Shortly after the policy was issued, the plaintiff was involved in an automobile accident that severely injured him. The defendant paid the plaintiff disability income until 1979. At this point, the defendant stopped making payments to the plaintiff. Later on, in 1980, the defendant sent an agent to the plaintiff’s home. The agent falsely represented to the plaintiff that she had received a letter from the doctor saying that the plaintiff was no longer disabled. The agent also falsely claimed that the defendant was no longer covered under the policy, that the policy was no longer in force, and that he had to sign a paper agreeing that no further payments were due under the policy, that it no longer covered him, and that he was no longer entitled to receive benefits under the policy and that he was giving up the policy voluntarily. Before the plaintiff signed any papers, a relative intervened.