Nomination under insurance law confers only a right to receive proceeds, not ownership or power to assign the policy.

Nomination under Section 39 of the Insurance Act gives only a right to receive policy proceeds from the insurer; it does not confer ownership, beneficial interest, or any proprietary share in the policy moneys. Because the nominee has no title in the amount payable, the nominee cannot validly assign or surrender the policy, and assignment is governed separately under Section 38. The document also notes that there was no pleading or proof of actual surrender, and the Married Women's Property Act was inapplicable. On that basis, an assignment made by the nominee in favour of a bank was invalid and the insurer was not liable on that claim.

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Issues: Whether a nominee under the policy acquired any title or beneficial interest in the policy moneys so as to validly assign or surrender the policy, and whether the assignee of the nominee could enforce the claim against the insurer.

Analysis: The policy was not treated as a life insurance policy for the statutory nomination provisions, and in any event nomination under Section 39 of the Insurance Act confers only a right to receive the money from the insurer, not ownership of the policy moneys. The statutory scheme, including the power to cancel a nomination, the effect of transfer or assignment, and the directions for payment on maturity, shows that the nominee does not obtain any proprietary interest or part of his estate in the amount payable. Assignment is dealt with separately under Section 38 of the Insurance Act, and a person who has only a right to collect cannot transfer or surrender what he does not own. There was also no pleading or proof that the policy had in fact been surrendered. The argument based on the Married Women's Property Act was not available and in any event could not apply to a policy of this nature.

Conclusion: The nominee had no right to assign or surrender the policy, the assignment in favour of the bank was invalid, and the insurer was not liable to pay the amount claimed on that basis.

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