Norem v. Lincoln Benefit Life Co.

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in breach of contract action alleging that defendant’s method of calculating its cost of insurance was contrary to terms of policy, which stated that applicable rate would be “based on the insured’s sex, issue age, policy year and payment class,” where defendant used additional factors not mentioned in policy when calculating rate. Ct. rejected plaintiff’s claim that contract language required that defendant base rate exclusively on sex, issue age, policy year and payment class and agreed with defendant that its rate did not violate terms of policy, where stated factors in policy made up significant portion of rate calculation, and where instant rate did not exceed guaranteed ceiling rate in policy.