## Facts

- Larrye and Patsy White applied for individual health insurance with Time Insurance Company by fax and signed the application.
- Time retained an electronically stored image of the signed application in its records system; the first page reflected an annual maximum benefit of $2,500.
- The Whites’ physical copies of the insurance documents, including the policy, were later destroyed.
- After Larrye White was diagnosed with cancer, the Whites submitted medical claims exceeding $2,500 for the year.
- Time paid benefits up to $2,500 and denied additional payments, asserting the policy contained a $2,500 annual maximum.
- Time sued in federal district court for a declaratory judgment that it owed no benefits beyond the $2,500 cap.
- The Whites (later, their estate) challenged Time’s reliance on a printout from electronic records, arguing the Best Evidence Rule required production of an original application or policy.
- The district court granted summary judgment for Time and entered a declaratory judgment enforcing the annual cap; the Estate appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a computer printout of an electronically stored image of a signed insurance application could be treated as an “original” under the Best Evidence Rule for purposes of proving policy terms.
2. Whether the summary judgment record showed a genuine dispute of material fact regarding the existence and enforceability of the $2,500 annual maximum benefit limitation.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment and declaratory judgment for Time.
- The court held that the district court did not violate the Best Evidence Rule by relying on a printout of electronically stored data shown to accurately reflect the stored information.
- The court concluded the Estate failed to produce evidence sufficient to create a triable dispute that the policy lacked the $2,500 annual maximum.

## Legal Principles

- Under Fed. R. Evid. 1001(3), when information is stored electronically, a printout or other output readable by sight qualifies as an “original” if shown to reflect the data accurately.
- The Best Evidence Rule does not require production of a lost paper document when an accurate, authenticated printout of electronically stored information is available and admissible.
- On summary judgment, once the movant produces admissible evidence establishing a contract term, the nonmovant must present competent evidence creating a genuine dispute of material fact; mere denial of assent, without supporting evidence, is insufficient.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit upheld a declaratory judgment limiting the insurer’s liability to a $2,500 annual maximum, holding that an authenticated printout of an electronically stored signed application satisfied the Best Evidence Rule and that the insureds’ estate failed to raise a genuine fact dispute about the policy term.


Time Ins. Co. v. Estate of White, 447 F. App’x 561 (5th Cir. 2011)