Facts
Factory worker Emil Kuonen, residing in Upper Valais, took out a mixed life insurance policy with additional insurance coverages with the life insurance company La Nationale in November 1965. In March 1967, Kuonen had to be hospitalized for eleven days due to high blood pressure. When he claimed the agreed daily allowance, the insurance company withdrew from the contract in June 1967, as Kuonen had answered questions about his health condition incorrectly at the time of concluding the contract.
Kuonen then filed a lawsuit against the insurance company, claiming that the withdrawal was unjustified and that the contract remained valid. The Cantonal Court of Valais upheld the claim. The insurance company appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court confirmed the contested judgment and rejected the insurance company's withdrawal from the contract. It stated that the question about illnesses of bronchitis concerned a significant risk factor, which the policyholder Kuonen had answered incorrectly. However, Kuonen was not aware of the medical significance of the term "bronchitis", and the insurance agents had not informed him about it. Therefore, Kuonen had not violated the duty to disclose, as he did not mention his annual colds, which he considered insignificant, in the questionnaire. Furthermore, the agents had caused the non-mention of these illnesses in the questionnaire, so that the…