LAW REPORTS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 969, 9 November 1910, Page 3

LAW REPORTS.

SUPREME COURT. ABOUT INSURANCE POLICIES. A BANKRUPT'S EIGHTS. An interesting point arising out of the- bankruptcy of William Francis Greenaway, a Dannevirko sawmillor, who has left the country, and whoso whereabouts are unknown, was decided by the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) and Mr. Justice Chapman, in Chambers yesterday. Tho case came forward on a summons by the Deputy Official Assignee (represented by Mr. J. L. Stout), calling upon tho Governmont Insurance Commissioner (for whom Mr. C. H. Treadwcll appeared) to show cause why the firstmentioned official should not be registered as the owner of two policies of life insurance taken out by the bankrupt. There were three policies taken out by the bankrupt—one for £2000, and two for £1000 each.

Under the Life Insurance Act, 1908, there was protection up to £2000. . The Deputy Official Assignee, in an affidavit, stated that Greenaway was adjudicated bankrupt on a creditor's petition, in 1909. He had left New Zealand in 1904, for America, and had not since returned. He was last heard of at Cold Streams, Texas, United States. 'Bankrupt's attorney, Mr. T. H. Gordon Lloyd, solicitor, Dannevirke, had written to notify him of the intention of the Assignee to elect under section 66 of the Life Insurance Act, that the two policies for £1000 each should be protected for the bankrupt, but the letter had come back through the Dead Letter Office. The Deputy Official Assignee had then applied to nave his title registered against the policy. This the Government Commissioner had refused to do. " Mr. Stout submitted that the Official Assignee, having given the notice required by tho Act, was entitled to be registered against the policy, Treadwell said the secretary of the Government Life Insurance Department had objected to register because he was not assured that the Department would, be protected without some 'indication of what the real position was with" reference to various questions which had. been raised. He submitted that there had been no efficient service on the bankrupt calling on him to elect which policy he wished to be protected, rile Official Assignee should, under the circumstances, have specially considered the interests of the bankrupt when making the election. Tho Chief Justice, delivering judgment, said he thought the Court should make tho order desired by the Official Assignee. The first point raised by counsel for the Insurance Commissioner was whether the bankrupt !fi -T-r an °PP°rt»nity of election. Ine Life Insurance Act, after providing that all policies should bo protected, limited the amount of protection, to £2000, and further stated that .in caso of bankruptcy : the ' Official Assignee must call on the bankrupt to make the election as to which policy he would . keep. The statute directed that tho notice calling on the bankrupt to make this election, must bo served on' him personally or posted to his last-known place of abodo in New Zealand. If the Official Assignee knew that tho bankrupt was residing, say, in Australia, lie would not be bound to send tho notice there. The words were plain, the notice in this case was posted to the bankrupt, and he had two months within which to .make his election. As it turned out, he did not got the letter. He had departed from New Zealand, leaving behind nobody authorised or •competent to, forward letters, and his address was not known. The gentleman who acted as his attorney had. sworn tbticW not heard of him" since 1908, and did not know whether ho was alive or dead. Up to 1908 he had been Jiving m a certain town in tho United States. His Honour was of the opinion that the Official Assignee had strictly complied with the requirements of the Act, and no election had been made by tho bankrupt. His right to make the elections had lapsed,, and the Official Assignee, therefore, had the right to make it, and he had chosen the two old policies. It was his duty to make the election in the interests of the administration of the estate, and the Insurance Commissioner had ■ a right to question the Assignee's exercise of his discretion, in the matter. Mr. Justice Chapman concurred. , After the' formalities had been gone through, and the bankrupt .bad not ex- ? r °'f ij tls rigllt of eleeti ° n > he must be held to have renounced the right. He should have foreseen that before he went away. As to the time that should be allowed to expire after-the, posting of the notice, some moaning ought to be given to the words of the statute, within the time aforesaid,'.' which, as used there, had no meaning., The meaning, he thought, must be "within a reasonable time, having regard to the provisions of subsection 4." The bankrupt in the present case • had ? ii. am E le - , time - Ifc IVM tlw -j ™ lal Assignee, until the estate paid 20s. in the £, to exercise his functions m the interests of the creditors. Judgment was entered accordingly No order was made as to costs.