Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175, § 124 (2026)

Claims under policy issued by life company; binding effect of statements in application for life insurance policy issued without medical examination

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 124. In any claim arising under a policy issued in the commonwealth by any life company, without previous medical examination, or without the knowledge and consent of the insured, or, if said insured is a minor, without the consent of the parent, guardian or other person having legal custody of said minor, the statements made in the application as to the age, physical condition and family history of the insured shall be held to be valid and binding on the company; but the company shall not be debarred from proving as a defense to such claim that said statements were wilfully false, fraudulent or misleading.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 14 cases, 1927–2009 · leading case: Prot. Life Ins. v. Sullivan, 682 N.E.2d 624 (Mass. 1997).

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Prot. Life Ins. v. Sullivan, 682 N.E.2d 624 (Mass. 1997). · cites it 18× “175, § 132, taken together with G. L. c. 175, § 124, bars an insurance company from contesting the validity of a life insurance policy more than two years after its date of issue on the basis of fraud, where the policy provided that it was contestable for fraud at any time and…”

Opara v. Massachusetts Mut. Life Ins., 441 Mass. 539 (Mass. 2004). · cites it 2× “373, 376 (1923) (considering precursor to G. L. c. 175, § 124, requiring insurer to prove that alleged misrepresentations were wilfully false, fraudulent, or misleading, court held that statute did not apply to representations made in reinstatement applications because “[i]t was…”

Robinson v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 776 N.E.2d 458 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). · cites it 2× “” The importance of determining whether the examination of Russell by a nurse was a “medical” one within the meaning of G. L. c. 175, § 124, is explained in Protective Life Ins.”

Prot. Life Ins. v. Sullivan, 89 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 1996). “The interpretation of section 132 is complicated, however, by its relationship to another provision of Massachusetts insurance law, Mass Gen. L. ch. 175, § 124. Section 124 provides that in claims arising under a life insurance policy issued without a medical examination or…”

Sacks v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, 16 Mass. L. Rptr. 461 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2003). “) The Massachusetts Statute G.L.c. 175, §124 provides in relevant part: In any claim arising under a policy issued in the Commonwealth by any life company, without previous medical examination .”

Hejinian v. Gen. Am. Life Ins., 22 Mass. L. Rptr. 684 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2007). · cites it 6× “G.L.c. 175, §124, which was enacted fourteen years later in 1892, provides: In any claim arising under a policy issued in the commonwealth by any life company, without previous medical examination .”

Gray v. Fid. & Guar. Life Ins., 21 Mass. L. Rptr. 649 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006). · cites it 2× “In her opposition, Wendy Gray contends that Massachusetts law governs and as such the Policies are in full effect because Fidelity has not shown that Grant’s misrepresentations were “willfully false, fraudulent or misleading” under G.L.c. 175, §124. The Policies themselves do…”

Hejinian v. Gen. Am. Life Ins., 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 408 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2009). · cites it 7× “If this life insurance claim were governed by G.L.c. 175, §124, no reasonable person, applying these relevant facts, could reasonably have concluded that General American should decline coverage on this Policy.”

Carroll v. Metro. Life Ins., 154 N.E. 757 (Mass. 1927). “There is nothing in any exception to the charge which calls *253 for examination, unless we accept the contention of the plaintiff that the exception taken should be held to apply to a part of the charge to which it was not in terms directed.”

Robinson v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 11 Mass. L. Rptr. 135 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1999). · cites it 6× “Robinson, precludes Prudential from contesting the validity of the representations made in the application pursuant to G.L.c. 175, §124. Plaintiff claims that no medical examination occurred because he was never examined by a physician, and because the exam by a nurse occurred…”

Gray v. Fid. & Guar. Life Ins., 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 139 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2009). · cites it 2× “649 ]; as, therefore, the defendant was obliged to prove that the plaintiffs decedent made statements on his applications for life insurance policies issued by the defendant that were “willfully false, fraudulent, or misleading,” G.L.c. 175, §124; as the decedent failed to…”

Palmer v. Youth Opportunites Upheld, Inc., 18 Mass. L. Rptr. 301 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2004). “244, 248-51 (2002) (court concludes that the term “medical examination," as it is used in G.L.c. 175, §124, means an examination by a “physician” only as opposed to a nurse or nurse practitioner; “While we recognize that nurses and nurse practitioners now assume many of the…”

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