Geico seeks to recover costs from at-fault driver

An insurance company has filed suit against the driver who it claims caused it to pay more than $50,000 to its insured following a collision.

Geico filed a lawsuit Jan. 4 in Madison County Circuit Court against Alicia N. Mills.

In its complaint, Geico alleges it had insured Rita Starnes when she got into an accident with Mills on Jan. 7, 2011.

As Starnes was driving a 2009 Toyota Camry on Route 203 and Binrow Street in Madison County, Mills, who was driving a 1997 Dodge Stratus on the same road, failed to keep a proper lookout and struck her vehicle, according to the complaint.

Subsequently, Geico paid Starnes $25,000 for medical costs she incurred and $9,341.58 for vehicle repairs, the suit states. It also paid an additional $25,000 for medical costs incurred by Starnes’s passenger, Kita Burnette, who was also injured during the accident, the complaint says.

Starnes paid a $500 for the bodily injuries sustained and an additional $500 deductible for her property damages, but Geico claims it paid the remaining sums.

In addition to the money it claims it paid the defendants, Geico is seeking attorney’s fees, costs and other relief the court deems just.

It will be represented by Beth C. Boggs and Elizabeth Westbrook of Boggs, Avellino, Lach and Boggs in St. Louis.

Madison County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-16.