Dolores I. Rempel v. Nationwide Life Insurance Company

In April, 1961, appellees husband, Harry Rempel, purchased a thirty-year mortgage protection policy from appellant, Nationwide Life Insurance Company, Inc., through Nationwides agent, appellant, Reid W. McGibbeny. The policy was designed to pay to the beneficiary, appellee, Dolores I. Rempel, an amount approximately equal to the outstanding mortgage balance, if any, on the Rempel home when the insured, appellees husband, Harry Rempel, died. In July, 1961, appellee Rempel, upon instructions from her husband, again contacted McGibbeny and asked whether Nationwide could match a policy offered by a competing insurance company that would provide the same mortgage protection plus an additional $5,000 of life insurance, for only a few dollars a month in increased cost. McGibbeny, after consulting Nationwide, told the Rempels that a $5,000 whole life policy with a twenty-year family income rider would provide the protection sought for only a few dollars per month more than the cost of the original policy.