Country Mutual sued over ESL fire loss claim

A woman claims her insurance company refuses to pay damages caused to her home after it was destroyed by a fire.

Bernice Lewis filed a lawsuit Nov. 22 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Country Mutual Insurance Company.

In her complaint, Lewis claims she had an insurance policy through Country Mutual, which was supposed to insure her home at 712 North 40^th St. in East St. Louis, when a fire blazed through Lewis’s home on Jan. 23. The fire damaged the house and contents inside, according to the complaint.

Following the fire, Lewis sought payment under her insurance policy, but Country Mutual denied her claim and refuses to make payments, the suit states.

In her complaint, Lewis seeks a judgment of more than $50,000, plus damages, attorneys’ fees and costs.

Thomas O. Falb of Williamson, Webster, Falb and Glisson in Alton will be representing him.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-589.