“ Confining ourselves to what is necessary for the decision of the case in hand, we hold that the statute, as construed and applied by the state courts, is wanting in due process of law, and repugnant to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. ”

“ Thus, it takes property from one and gives it to another, not because of a breach by the former of a duty to the latter or to the public, but because of a lawful exercise of an undoubted right. Plainly this cannot be done consistently with due process of law. ”

“ A recovery for penalty and attorneys' fee cannot be had when complainant makes demand for more than he is entitled to recover. It could never have been the purpose of the legislature to make the insurance companies pay a penalty and attorneys' fee for contesting a claim that they did not owe. Such an act would be unconstitutional. The companies have the right to resist the payment of a demand that they do not owe. When the plaintiff demands an excessive amount, he is in the wrong. ”