Smith v. United States National Life & Casualty Co.

The action which gives rise to this appeal is one wherein the plaintiff and respondent brought suit against the defendant and appellant upon an accident policy, issued by defendant corporation to one Robert Smith, deceased husband of the plaintiff. The policy in question provided for monthly payments to the insured in the event of partial or total disability caused by an accident, and the payment of $600 to the wife of the insured in the event of death resulting from an accident. The action was filed by the 'plaintiff as surviving widow of the insured, named as beneficiary in the policy, and is based upon the claim that the insured met his death as the result of a dog bite. Judgment was rendered for the plaintiff for the sum of $600, from which judgment defendant has appealed.

It appears from the evidence that Robert Smith, the deceased, was bitten by his own dog on October 6, 1924. Surgical treatment was administered, but Smith, who was a cement worker, was incapacitated for work because of a badly lacerated thumb. On the day following the injury the deceased forwarded a written report to the insurance company, as required by his policy. In this report the deceased gave it as…