UCPB v. Masagana

Premiums
UCPB General Insurance Co., Inc., vs. Masagana Telamart, Inc., G.R. No. 137172. April 4, 2001 
Facts: Masagana Telemart [herein Respondent] obtained from UCPB General Insurance (herein Petitioner]
5 insurance policies on its properties [in Pasay City and Manila]
All 5 policies reflect on their face the effectivity term: “from 4:00 P.M. of 22 May 1991 to 4:00
P.M. of 22 May 1992.” On June 13, 1992, plaintiffs properties located at 2410-2432 and 2442-2450 Taft
Avenue, Pasay City were razed by fire.
For years, Petitioner USPB General had been issuing fire policies to the Respondent, and these
policies were annually renewed. Petitioner had been granting Respondent a 60- to 90-day credit term within
which to pay the premiums on the renewed policies.
There was no valid notice of non-renewal of the policies in question, as there is no proof at all that
the notice sent by ordinary mail was received by Respondent, and the copy thereof allegedly sent to Zuellig
was ever transmitted to Respondent.  
The premiums for the policies in question in the aggregate amount of P225,753.95 were paid by
Respondent within the 60- to 90-day credit term and were duly accepted and received by Petitioner’s
cashier.  
On July 14, 1992, Masagana made its formal demand for indemnification for the burned insured
properties. On the same day, defendant returned the 5 manager’s checks stating in its letter that it was
rejecting Masagana’s claim on the following grounds:
a) Said policies expired last May 22, 1992 and were not renewed for another term;
b) Defendant had put plaintiff and its alleged broker on notice of non-renewal earlier; and  
c) The properties covered by the said policies were burned in a fire that took place last June 13,
1992, or before tender of premium payment.”  
The trial court and the CA disagreed with Petitioner’s stand that Respondent’s tender of payment
of the premiums on 13 July 1992 did not result in the renewal of the policies, having been made beyond the
effective date of renewal as provided under Policy Condition No. 26. Hence Masagana filed this case. 
Issue: Whether the fire insurance policies issued by petitioner to the respondent covering the period from
May 22, 1991 to May 22, 1992 . . . had been extended or renewed by an implied credit arrangement though
actual payment of premium was tendered on a later date and after the occurrence of the (fire) risk insured
against.”
Ruling: Yes. Section 77 of the Insurance Code of 1978 provides: “An insurer is entitled to payment of the
premium as soon as the thing insured is exposed to the peril insured against. Notwithstanding any agreement
to the contrary, no policy or contract of insurance issued by an insurance company is valid and binding
unless and until the premium thereof has been paid, except in the case of a life or an industrial life policy
whenever the grace period provision applies.”
In turn, this Section has its source in Section 72 of Act No. 2427 otherwise known as the Insurance
Act as amended by R.A. No. 3540 (21 June 1963), which read:
SEC. 72. An insurer is entitled to payment of premium as soon as the thing insured is exposed to
the peril insured against, unless there is clear agreement to grant the insured credit extension of the
premium due. No policy issued by an insurance company is valid and binding unless and until the
premium thereof has been paid.
Exceptions to Section 77:
1
1. The first exception is provided by Section 77 itself, and that is, in case of a life or industrial life
policy whenever the grace period provision applies.
2. The second is that covered by Section 78 of the Insurance Code, which provides:
SEC. 78. Any acknowledgment in a policy or contract of insurance of the receipt of premium
is conclusive evidence of its payment, so far as to make the policy binding, notwithstanding any
stipulation therein that it shall not be binding until premium is actually paid.
3. A third exception was laid down in Makati Tuscany Condominium Corporation vs. Court of
Appeals, wherein we ruled that Section 77 may not apply if the parties have agreed to the
payment in installments of the premium and partial payment has been made at the time of
loss. Not only that. In Tuscany, we also quoted with approval the following pronouncement of the
Court of Appeals in its Resolution denying the motion for reconsideration of its decision.
Section 78 of the Insurance Code in effect allows waiver by the insurer of the condition of
prepayment by making an acknowledgment in the insurance policy of receipt of premium as
conclusive evidence of payment so far as to make the policy binding despite the fact that premium
is actually unpaid.
4. Tuscany has provided a fourth exception to Section 77, namely, that the insurer may grant credit
extension for the payment of the premium. This simply means that if the insurer has granted the
insured a credit term for the payment of the premium and loss occurs before the expiration of the
term, recovery on the policy should be allowed even though the premium is paid after the loss but
within the credit term.
Moreover, there is nothing in Section 77 which prohibits the parties in an insurance contract
to provide a credit term within which to pay the premiums.
Finally, it would be unjust and inequitable if recovery on the policy would not be permitted
against Petitioner, which had consistently granted a 60- to 90-day credit term for the payment of
premiums despite its full awareness of Section 77. Estoppel bars it from taking refuge under said
Section, since Respondent relied in good faith on such practice. Estoppel then is the fifth exception
to Section 77.
WHEREFORE, the Decision is RECONSIDERED and SET ASIDE, and a new one is
hereby entered DENYING the instant petition for failure of Petitioner to sufficiently show that a
reversible error was committed by the Court of Appeals in its challenged decision, which is hereby
AFFIRMED in toto. No pronouncement as to cost. SO ORDERED.

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