AmerUs Life Insurance Co. v. Smith

I respectfully dissent.

Before it decided Hickox v. Stover, 551 So.2d 259 (Ala.1989), in which it adopted the justifiable-reliance standard, this Court had applied a reasonable-reliance standard in regard to a fraud claim. However, several exceptions existed at that time to the reasonable-reliance standard. For example, an illiterate party to a contract could allege fraud and overcome the other party’s reliance on the terms of a written contract. Paysant v. Ware, 1 Ala. 160 (1840). Another exception existed based on the relationship between the parties. In Southern Building & Loan Ass’n v.…