Is incorrect answer on an insurance application a defense of fraud?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Imperial Casualty & Indemnity Co. v. Sogomonian, 198 Cal.App.3d 169, 243 Cal.Rptr. 639 (Cal. App. 1988):

That is not to say, however, that a mere incorrect answer on an insurance application will give rise to a defense of fraud, where the true facts, if known, would not have made the contract less desirable to the insurer. Moreover, the trier of fact is not required to believe the "post mortem" testimony of an insurer's agents that insurance would have been refused had the true facts been disclosed. ( Thompson v. Occidental Life Ins. Co., supra, 9 Cal.3d at p. 916, 109 Cal.Rptr. 473, 513 P.2d 353.)

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