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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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[2024] ZAGPPHC 1344
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## Navigare Securities (Pty) Limited and Another v Vickers and Peters Financial Planning (Pty) Ltd and Another (29108/22)
[2024] ZAGPPHC 1344 (13 December 2024)
Navigare Securities (Pty) Limited and Another v Vickers and Peters Financial Planning (Pty) Ltd and Another (29108/22)
[2024] ZAGPPHC 1344 (13 December 2024)
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sino date 13 December 2024
REPUBLIC
OF SOUTH AFRICA
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
Case
Number: 29108/22
(1)
REPORTABLE:
YES
/ NO
(2)
OF INTEREST TO OTHER JUDGES: NO
(3)
REVISED: YES
DATE
13 -12-2024
SIGNATURE
In
the matter between:
NAVIGARE
SECURITIES (PTY) LIMITED
First Applicant
PAMELLA
MONGOATO RADEVE N.O.
Second Applicant
and
VICKERS AND PETERS
FINANCIAL
PLANNING
(PTY) LTD
First Respondent
DISCOVERY
LIFE LIMITED
Second Respondent
This matter was heard
in open court and disposed of in terms of the directives issued by
the Judge President of this Division. The
judgment and order are
accordingly published and distributed electronically.
JUDGMENT
KUBUSHI J
Introduction
[1]
This is an opposed exception taken by the
second defendant against the first and second plaintiffs’
particulars of claim.
The basis of the exception is that the
particulars of claim lack the averments necessary to disclose a cause
of action and/or are
vague and embarrassing. During oral argument,
emphasis was, however, placed mainly on the failure to disclose a
cause of action.
[2]
The matter revolves around an insurance
policy (“the policy”) claim. The policy in question is a
Group Insurance Policy
underwritten by the second defendant as the
insurer, whilst the first plaintiff is the insured and/or policy
holder. The policy
cover is meant for the employees of the first
plaintiff. The second plaintiff is the executrix in the estate of the
late Mr Vuyisile
Onesmus Radebe, one of the employees of the first
plaintiff who has since passed away (“the deceased”).
[3]
The first defendant, pursuant to a mandate
given to it by the first plaintiff, acted as the first plaintiff’s
financial services
provider as provided for in
section 1
of the
Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002
. The
first defendant, as such, acted as the agent of the first plaintiff
in procuring the insurance policy in question.
[4]
It was stated during oral argument that
this was not the first exception taken by the second defendant. It is
actually the third
exception. The first exception was upheld by Yende
AJ on 21 August 2023 on the basis that the first and second
plaintiffs failed
to allege fulfilment of a condition precedent for
the insurer’s liability under the policy, in the particulars of
claim.
The plaintiffs were granted leave to amend the particulars of
claim.
[5]
The plaintiffs amended the particulars of
claim on 7 September 2023, which appeared not to be to the
satisfaction of the second
defendant. On 29 September 2023, the
second defendant gave the plaintiffs notice to remove causes of
complaint before it could
except again. The plaintiffs amended the
particulars of claim but the second defendant still excepted. The
plaintiffs amended their
particulars of claim again on 14 December
2023 but the second defendant noted another exception on 25 January
2024. The current
exception is thus aimed at the last amended
particulars of claim.
Background
[6]
The claim emanates from a written contract
of insurance entered into between the first plaintiff and the second
defendant. Initially,
the first plaintiff had engaged the services of
the first defendant to act as its agent to procure insurance products
(“the
products”) for the benefit of the first plaintiff’s
employees. The products sought to be procured were a life cover
benefit, payable on the event of death of an employee, and a monthly
income continuation benefit payable in the event of disability.
The
first defendant proposed that the products be placed with the second
defendant.
[7]
The second defendant provided a written
quotation which the first defendant presented to the first plaintiff
for the placement of
the products with the second defendant. The
first plaintiff accepted the quotation. The second defendant, in a
written letter of
acceptance, gave notice of acceptance of risk in
accordance with the quotation and confirmed the installation of the
first plaintiff’s
Group Risk Life Plan. This culminated in the
first plaintiff and the second defendant concluding a written
contract of insurance
on the terms and conditions set out in the
Group Risk Life Plan Guide and Benefit Schedule.
[8]
In terms of the Group Risk Life Plan it
became compulsory for all the employees of the first plaintiff who
entered service on or
after the commencement date of 1 April 2013, to
be members of the Life Plan. Some of the salient terms of the Group
Risk Life Plan
are that:
a.
all benefits available under the policy are
limited to the free cover limit set out in the Benefit Schedule;
b.
cover in excess of the free cover limit
will only be granted once the required medical evidence of health has
been submitted to
the satisfaction of the second defendant;
c.
on receipt of the medical evidence, the
second defendant will give the member an underwriting decision in
writing; and
d.
the second defendant will pay the death
benefit as set out in the Benefit Schedule to the first plaintiff or
another person if requested
so by the first plaintiff.
[9]
The Benefit Schedule, on the other hand,
set out the benefits to which the employees/members of the scheme are
entitled to or rather
the cover provided by the second defendant to
the employees/members of the scheme. The Benefit Schedule provided
for free cover
which was stated as nil, and full cover for the
benefit schedule disability (called income continuation benefit)
which was 75%
of the monthly income of an employee, and life cover
(death benefit) which was five times of the employee’s annual
salary.
The premiums were calculated on the basis of the cover that
is provided for.
[10]
The Group Risk Life Guide and a Benefit
Schedule are attached as annexures to the particulars of claim.
Furthermore, a quote provided
by the second defendant to the first
plaintiff showing what is to be covered, that is, the underwriting
requirements, is also attached
to the particulars of claim. It
states, amongst others, the names of the original members of the
scheme and the cover provided,
which is cover in excess of free cover
limit and that they will be required to provide medical evidence of
good health for the
amount of cover that exceeds free cover. The
quote also states that the medicals which will be required will be
sent to for each
Individual.
[11]
The deceased is one of the employees that
joined the scheme when he became an employee of the first plaintiff.
Almost eight months
after joining the scheme he was diagnosed with a
terminal disease known as motor neuron disease (MND) or amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis
(ALS) to which he finally succumbed. At the time of
becoming a member of the scheme, the deceased was not requested nor
did he
provide the medical evidence of health. The second defendant
only asked him to provide the relevant medical evidence of his health
when he had already been diagnosed with MND. The plaintiffs and the
second defendant are at loggerheads as to who, between the
second
defendant and the deceased, was supposed to provide the evidence of
health when cover was provided.
[12]
Due to the deceased’s illness, the
first plaintiff submitted a claim to the second defendant for payment
of the full cover
in respect of the income continuation benefit.
This, as the plaintiffs submit, was because the deceased during his
lifetime paid
a monthly premium that was calculated on the full
benefit cover. The second defendant partly paid the claim in an
amount which
it determined to be the free cover limit.
[13]
Pursuant to the deceased’s death, the
first plaintiff submitted a claim for full cover in respect of the
life cover benefit.
The second defendant, again, partly paid the life
cover benefit in an amount which it determined to be free cover
limit, and refused
to pay the amount in respect of full cover
contending that the deceased had failed to submit relevant medical
evidence of good
health in order to qualify for full cover.
[14]
In this action, the plaintiffs claim
payment of the difference between the full cover and the payments
received from the second
defendant.
Issue for
Determination
[15]
The crux of this matter is currently
whether the exception sought by the second defendant should be
granted. Underlying this issue
is the determination of the main
dispute between the plaintiffs and the second defendant in regard to
the provision of the medical
evidence of health, and whether the
condition to provide medical evidence was a condition precedent. The
first question requires
an answer as to who bore the responsibility
for the provision of the medical evidence of health. It is the
plaintiffs’ contention
that the responsibility fell on the
second defendant whilst the second defendant’s argument is that
it fell on the deceased.
The determination of these underlying issues
will provide guidance as to whether the exception ought to be granted
or not.
Arguments
[16]
The second defendant based the exception
taken on four grounds. Three of the grounds pertain to the
plaintiffs’ claims and
the fourth relates to the standing of
the second plaintiff in these proceedings. To the contrary, the
plaintiffs, in opposition
to the exception, contend that the grounds
of exception raised by the second defendant are unmeritorious and
ought to be dismissed.
First Ground of
Exception
[17]
The first ground of exception is according
to the second defendant based on a foundational, fundamental
principle of the law of
contract, which is the doctrine of the law of
privity of contract. Essentially, the doctrine is that unless you are
a party to
a contract, you cannot sue under that contract. Based on
this doctrine, the second defendant contends that the second
plaintiff,
not being a party to the contract of insurance, has no
locus standi
in these proceedings.
[18]
The argument is that since the policy which
is a Group Life Policy, was taken out by the first plaintiff as the
employer for its
employees, it is the first plaintiff that is the
insured and policy holder in terms of the policy and not the
employees of the
first plaintiff. This, according to the second
defendant, means that there is a contract between the first plaintiff
as the insured
and the second defendant as the insurer. There is thus
no contract or any contractual relationship between the members of
the scheme
(the employees) and the insurer. Consequently, members of
the scheme do not acquire any direct or other rights against the
insurer.
[19]
The second defendant contends further that
there is simply no basis for the conclusion that the deceased, as a
member of the scheme,
was a contractual party to the policy. The
policy provisions are also not indicative of the intention by the
contracting parties
that members and/or beneficiaries should be
parties to the contract. To the contrary, so it is argued, the
indication is quite
clear that members and/or beneficiaries are not
intended to become parties to the policy. In that sense, the policy
does not constitute
a
stipulatio alteri
and, as such, no privity was created between the insurer and the
deceased. By extension, there is no privity of contract between
the
insurer and the executrix of the estate of the deceased, so the
argument goes.
[20]
In response to this ground of
exception, the plaintiffs submit that the second plaintiff, in her
capacity as executrix of the deceased
estate, is entitled to claim
payment of the income continuation benefit which was payable to the
deceased during his lifetime,
when he became incapacitated due to
illness, together with payment of the life cover benefit, as the
policy provides for payment
of the death benefit to the first
plaintiff or to another party if so requested by the first plaintiff.
The first plaintiff instructed
the second defendant, in accordance
with the policy, to make payment of the income continuation benefit
to the deceased during
his lifetime, on account of his disability,
and to pay the life cover benefit to the second plaintiff, upon the
deceased’s
death.
[21]
The plaintiffs go further to argue that the
obligation to pay the proceeds that are due by the second defendant
to second plaintiff,
in her capacity as executrix, is on account of
the instruction given by the first plaintiff to the second defendant
in terms of
the policy and, therefore, the right to claim such
proceeds confers
locus standi
on the second plaintiff, giving her a direct interest in the matter
which is not too remote but is an actual and existing interest.
Second Ground of
Exception
[22]
The second ground of exception takes aim at
claim 1 in the particulars of claim which is based on the alleged
waiver of the right
to call for medical evidence. It is alleged in
claim 1 of the amended plaintiffs’ particulars of claim that
the second defendant
either expressly or tacitly waived the right to
call for medical evidence or failed to call for medical evidence
within a reasonable
time after the deceased was admitted into the
scheme.
[23]
The second defendant submits that in terms
of clause 4 of the policy, it has a right to call upon all
employees/members of the scheme
and their dependants to submit to
such medical examinations and tests as it deems necessary during the
currency of the policy,
and that such request is to be made directly
to the employees/ members of the scheme, or their dependants with the
same legal consequences.
The contention by the second defendant is
that the defect in the particulars of claim is in that the allegation
made is that this
right, that is the right to call for medical
examination, was waived, when they, in fact, should have alleged that
the condition
precedent was waived.
[24]
The second argument on this ground is that
the facts which the plaintiffs allege constitute the waiver, are
inadequate to establish
a waiver and thus render claim 1 fatally
defective. The defect is in that the plaintiffs failed, in the
particulars of claim, to
allege waiver of, in particular, the
condition that the second defendant must accept the medical evidence
and issue the underwriting
decision accepting the risk. According to
the second defendant, the component parts of the condition precedent
are, the medical
evidence and the written undertaking of acceptance
of risk. So, the plaintiffs’ inference to waive the right is
not sufficient
to get around the condition precedent, if the waiver
of the condition precedent is not pleaded – all components
thereof.
The submission is that the plaintiffs should have, in
essence, alleged that the second defendant waived the requirement
that it
be satisfied with medical evidence and that if it so
satisfied, it issue an underwritten decision accepting the risk,
having failed
to do so, their claim is defective.
[25]
The plaintiffs’ argument in defence
of this ground of exception is that they do not rely on the
suspensive condition for purposes
of the first claim of waiver
because from inception the policy was never suspended, but was
implemented with full cover. They,
further, contend that there
are allegations in the particulars of claim which state that the
insurance policy made provision for
the second defendant to request
medical evidence from members, that is, from those members who have
full cover. The duty, as the
plaintiffs submit, was always on the
second respondent to request medical evidence from the employees who
would not know what tests
they must go for in order to qualify for
full cover. This duty was never a condition precedent because nowhere
in the papers is
it said that it was a condition precedent.
[26]
Of importance is that the insurance policy
was never suspended but came into effect immediately. This is so
because the deceased
was required to pay the premium for full cover
as of day one. The deceased wanted full cover and this is what he
contracted for
and agreed to pay the premiums for. No free cover
could have been provided to the deceased because free cover was
stated as nil
in the Benefit Schedule, whereas full cover for the
benefit schedule disability (called income continuation benefit) was
75% of
the monthly income of an employee and full cover for life
cover (death benefit) was five times of the employee’s annual
salary.
The deceased’s premiums were calculated on the basis of
the cover that was provided for, that is, full cover. The deceased
could not have taken out a policy and have no cover and yet be
expected to pay a premium for full cover. The policy was not
suspended
and the premiums were paid to get full cover, so it was
argued.
Third Ground of
Exception
[27]
The third ground of exception relates to
claim 2 which is said to be based on the doctrine of fictional
fulfilment. In the amended
particulars of claim, the plaintiffs make
the following allegations: firstly, that the policy was subject to
the suspensive condition
that cover in excess of the free cover limit
will only be granted once the required medical evidence has been
submitted; secondly,
that it was a tacit term of the contract that
the second defendant was obliged to request the relevant medical
evidence within
a reasonable time of not more than 30 days of the
deceased becoming a member of the policy; and that the second
defendant deliberately
prevented the deceased from submitting the
required medical evidence by failing to request same, thereby
preventing the fulfilment
of the suspensive condition.
[28]
The
submission of the second defendant, in this regard, is that the
suspensive condition upon which the plaintiffs rely for this
claim is
the condition precedent upon which the doctrine of fictional
fulfilment is based. The second defendant argues, therefore,
that in
this claim, the plaintiffs failed to allege two critical elements of
the doctrine of fictional fulfilment, which are, that
the second
defendant was the cause of the non-fulfilment of the suspensive
condition and the deliberate act or duty breached by
the second
defendant was done with the intention to cause the condition
precedent to fail. In support of this argument the second
defendant
relied on the decision in
Gowan
v Bowen
,
[1]
where
the following is stated:
“
the
conditions are deemed to be fulfilled when the debtor who has bound
himself subject to them, is himself and intentionally the
cause of
their not being fulfilled. The cause.”
[29]
The
second defendant further referred to the judgment in
McDuff
& Co v Johannesburg Consolidated
[2]
where
the doctrine was found to have application.
[30]
According to the second defendant, it was
not required to do anything in order for the suspensive condition to
be possibly fulfilled.
This the second defendant submits is so
because the policy empowered the employer and the employee to submit
medical evidence themselves.
The policy provided that “
employees
who require underwriting make use of our smart service TM facility”.
In addition, the second defendant’s contact details were
provided. This is an indication that the second defendant did not
have to do something first in order for the employees to submit
medical evidence. All that the employees had to do was to make
use of
the smart service facilities and the contact details provided in the
policy. The employees did not need the second defendant
to tell them
about this policy, they had advisers, the first defendant, to advise
them. The employer and/or employees could have
at any time made use
of this mechanism to provide the relevant medical evidence, and this
is what the deceased should have done.
[31]
The second defendant contends, as such,
that the plaintiffs’ allegation that it deliberately prevented
the deceased from submitting
the relevant medical evidence, thereby
preventing the fulfilment of the suspensive condition by failing to
request the relevant
medical evidence has no merit. In order to
sustain a cause of action pertaining to this claim, it was critical
for the plaintiffs
to allege that it was objectively impossible for
the medical evidence to be submitted without the second defendant
asking for it.
By doing so, they would have established causation,
and they failed to do so. Causation, according to the second
defendant, is
absolutely critical and it is that element, which, as
the second defendant submits, is not present in the plaintiffs’
pleadings.
The plaintiffs have, as such, not pleaded the elements for
a cause of action based on the doctrine of fictional fulfilment, so
the second defendant submits.
[32]
The plaintiffs, in rejecting the second
defendant’s submission on this ground of exception, argued that
all the allegations
raised by the second defendant for this claim do
not form part of the
facta probanda
of a claim based on fictional fulfilment. The contentions, according
to the plaintiffs, are legal argument and/or defences that
ought to
be pleaded and for that reason, the third ground of exception ought
to be dismissed.
Fourth Ground of
Exception
[33]
The fourth ground of exception is based on
the damages claim, that is, claim 3. The plaintiffs allege in the
amended particulars
of claim that it was a tacit term of the policy
that the second defendant would: at the time the deceased became a
member of the
policy, or within a reasonable time thereafter, request
the relevant medical evidence; and within 90 days after the date of
the
aforesaid request, obtain, submit and consider such medical
evidence and obtain an underwriting decision as to the deceased’s
insurability. The second defendant is said to have breached the
policy by failing to comply with its duty to request the relevant
medical evidence from the deceased at the time of becoming, or within
a reasonable time after he became, a member of the policy.
Therefore,
implicitly the policy is ineffectual because the second defendant
breached the policy as aforesaid, and the result is
that the
plaintiffs suffered damages.
[34]
The second defendant argues that in a
damages claim, it is important to plead factual causation, that is,
facts that establish the
loss. The facts pleaded should establish
that the loss allegedly suffered is proximately related to the
alleged breach. According
to the second defendant, it is this element
of factual causation which is deficient in claim 3 which renders the
claim defective.
The contention is that the plaintiffs should have
alleged a critical averment that, if the second defendant had asked
for the medical
evidence, and if the second defendant had considered
the medical evidence, it would have accepted the risk for the full
cover for
the deceased. The particulars of claim are said to be
excipiable on that ground simply because the facts do not tie the
alleged
breach and the alleged damages. The causal nexus is not
established, so it is argued.
[35]
Conversely,
the plaintiffs, relying on the decision in
Guardrisk
,
argued that the test for causation, which is the source of the second
defendant’s complaint, has been dealt with and the
necessary
averments the second defendant is alleging are deficient from the
particulars of claim, have, in fact, been made. Causation,
as is
submitted by the plaintiffs, has been alleged in paragraphs 43 and 44
of the particulars of claim, in particular, that, if
the medical
evidence had been requested, it would have been considered and an
underwriting decision of insurability made. Relying
on the judgment
in
MEC,
Department of Education, Eastern Cape v Komani School & Office
Suppliers CC,
[3]
the
plaintiffs submit that they are not required to explain, as part of
its cause of action, the reason why the first plaintiff
claims
damages and that such a contention ought to form part of the second
defendant’s closing argument at the end of the
trial, so it is
argued.
[36]
Fundamentally, according to the plaintiffs,
the insured events in respect of which the deceased paid a premium
have actually occurred.
The insured events are, as pleaded, first,
the loss of income suffered by the deceased due to his illness (and
in respect of which
the income continuation benefit was payable) and,
second, the death of deceased in respect of which the life cover
benefit was
payable. The first plaintiff paid the monthly premiums in
respect of these events which have now materialised.
Applicable Law
[37]
Exceptions are regulated in terms of
Uniform
rule 23(1)
which stipulates that where any pleading is vague
and embarrassing, or lacks averments which are necessary to sustain
an action
or defence, as the case may be, the opposing party may,
within a period allowed for filing any subsequent pleading, deliver
an
exception thereto and may apply to the registrar to set it down
for hearing within 15 days after the delivery of such exception.
[38]
Some of the general principles applicable
to exceptions are that -
a.
The
object of an exception is to dispose of a case or a portion thereof
in an expeditious manner or to protect a party against an
embarrassment which is so serious as to merit the costs even of an
exception.
[4]
b.
An exception is a legal objection to the
opponent’s pleading. It complains of a defect inherent in the
pleading: admitting
for the moment that all the allegations in a
summons or plea are true, it asserts that even with such admission
the pleading does
not disclose either a cause of action or a defence,
as the case may be. It follows that where an exception is taken, the
court
must look at the pleading excepted to as it stands together
with facts agreed to by the parties, if any, no facts outside those
stated in the pleading can be brought into issue – except in
case of inconsistency – and no reference may be made to
any
other document.
c.
Where
the cause of action is founded on some document, reference thereto
should be made in the summons and a copy should be attached
to the
summons. The annexures must therefore be regarded as being
incorporated in the respective cause of action.
[5]
d.
In
order to succeed, an excipient has a duty to persuade the court that
upon every interpretation which the pleading in question,
in
particular the document on which it is based, no cause of action is
disclosed.
[6]
e.
An exception founded upon the contention
that a summons disclose no cause of action or that a plea lacks
averments necessary to
sustain a defence, is designed to obtain a
decision on a point of law which will dispose of the case in whole or
in part, and avoids
the leading of unnecessary evidence at the trial.
If it does not have that effect the exception should not be
entertained.
f.
An
exception ought to be dealt with sensibly and not in an over
technical manner particularly where the issues are invariably fact
bound.
[7]
Analysis
[39]
It
was held in
Guardrisk
Insurance Co Ltd v Cafe Chameleon CC
[8]
that the interpretation of an insurance contract depends on the
intention of the parties but not by having regard to what the parties
subjectively believed or thought when the policy was concluded but
rather, the interpretation requires an objective analysis, regard
being had to the language, context and purpose of the document. Such
objective analysis is aimed at establishing what the parties
must be
taken to have intended and not what their unexpressed thoughts were
when they contracted.
[40]
All the grounds of exception taken by the
second defendant are linked to the phrase ‘the medical evidence
of health’
as provided for in the policy. The view of this
court is that the resolution, thereof, will be determinative of all
the plaintiffs’
claims. It is also the view of this court that
the issue for determination calls for the interpretation of the
written contract
of insurance (the policy) concluded between the
first plaintiff and the second defendant, in as far as the phrase
‘the medical
evidence of health’, is concerned.
Importantly, the phrase should be interpreted in relation to who bore
the responsibility
to provide the evidence of medical health and
whether to provide the evidence of medical health was a condition
precedent, or not.
[41]
In the first ground of exception, an
interpretation of whether the clause in the written contract of
insurance which authorises
the second defendant to pay out the
benefits as set out in the Benefit Schedule to the first plaintiff or
another person if requested
by the first plaintiff, confers
locus
standi
in these proceedings to the
second plaintiff, is required. This, on the basis that the first
plaintiff has instructed the second
defendant to pay the disability
benefit to the deceased during his lifetime and the life benefit to
the second plaintiff after
the deceased’s demise. Portions of
these benefits have already been paid out as the first plaintiff had
requested.
[42]
Regarding the second ground of exception,
it is necessary that the written contract of insurance be interpreted
to give meaning
to whether the contract was suspended pending the
availability of the required evidence of health of the deceased and
whether such
a requirement was a condition precedent.
[43]
In as far as the third ground of exception,
which deals with the doctrine of fictional fulfilment is concerned,
when a contract
is subject to a suspensive condition and a party
deliberately prevents the fulfilment of that condition, in law the
condition is
regarded as fulfilled as against that party. There are
two elements required to establish the doctrine of fictional
fulfilment.
Firstly, the defendant must be the cause of the
non-fulfilment of the condition – causation; secondly, the
defendant must
have performed some deliberate act or breached some
duty, and done so with the intention to cause the condition to fail.
In order
to have this claim properly adjudicated, the interpretation
of the written contract of insurance is required to determine whether
or not the suspensive condition referred to by the plaintiffs is a
condition precedent as alleged by the second defendant.
[44]
Some of the issues are invariably fact
bound and require evidence to be led. For instance, in relation to
the second ground of exception,
it is the plaintiffs’
contention that the second defendant had the duty to request medical
evidence from the employees who
would not know what tests they must
go for in order to qualify for full cover. Whereas the second
defendant argues that the information
was readily available to the
deceased who should have consulted with the first defendant or
obtained the information from the second
defendant’s smart
service facilities.
[45]
In the third ground of exception, evidence
ought to be led to show on what basis it is alleged that the second
defendant is the
cause of the non-fulfilment of the suspensive
condition and the conduct of the second defendant that prevented the
deceased, deliberately
so, from submitting the relevant medical
evidence, must also be shown.
[46] In
relation to the fourth ground of exception, it is self-evident from
the reading of paragraphs 43 and 44
of the amended particulars of
claim that the complaint of the second defendant raised in this
ground of exception, holds no water.
The averments which it says are
deficient from this claim have been clearly made out.
Conclusion
[47]
Consequently, the exception cannot be upheld under the circumstances
and ought to be dismissed with costs.
Order
[48]
The order made is that the exception is dismissed with costs.
E M KUBUSHI
JUDGE OF THE HIGH
COURT
PRETORIA
Appearances
:
For
the Plaintiffs:
A
J Lapan
082
569 9372
lapan@counsel.co.za
For
the 2
nd
defendant:
L M
Spiller
079
873 7397
spiller@counsel.co.za
Date
of argument:
08
August 2024
Date
of judgment:
13
December 2024
[1]
1924 AD 550
at 571.
[2]
MacDuff
(In liquidation) v Johannesburg Consolidated Investments Co Ltd
1924 AD 573
at 588 —589.
[3]
2022 (3) SA 361
(SCA) para 30.
[4]
See
Barclays
Bank International Ltd v African Diamond Exporters (Pty)
Ltd
(2)
1976
(1) SA 100
(W).
[5]
See
Volkskas
Bank Ltd v Wilkinson
1992 (2) SA 388
at 389A.
[6]
See
Fairoaks
Investments Holdings (Pty) Ltd v Oliver
[2008]
ZASCA 41
;
2008
(4) SA 302
(SCA) at para [12].
[7]
See
Telematrix
(Pty) Ltd t/a Matrix Vehicle Tracking v Advertising Standards
Authority
SA
2006
(1) SA 461
(SCA) at para 3.
[8]
2021
(2) SA 323
(SCA) para 24.
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