Woman sues Travelers over under-insured motorist dispute

A woman has filed suit against her insurance company, saying it refuses to pay her for damages she sustained in a head-on collision.

Shari Kaemmerer claims she was driving a 2006 Saturn Aura east on Lebanon Avenue in Shiloh on Jan. 21, 2009, at about 7:06 p.m. when Taylor M. Bridges, who was driving a 2001 Lexus, crossed the center lane and struck the Aura.

According to the complaint filed Aug. 2 in St. Clair County Circuit Court, Kaemmerer had a policy through defendant Travelers that was supposed to provide her with underinsured motorist coverage of $250,000 per occurrence.

During the accident, Kaemmerer sustained serious personal injuries that exceeded the $100,000 policy limits on Bridges’s policy, the suit states. Therefore, she requested additional compensation from Travelers, the complaint says.

However, Travelers refuses to pay Kaemmerer for her damages, she claims.

In her complaint, Kaemmerer is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000; plus costs; attorney’s fees; and the lesser of 60 percent of the amount the court finds Kaemmerer entitled to recover, $60,000 or the excess of the amount that the court finds Kaemmerer is entitled to recover.

She will be represented by Mark C. Scoggins, Anthony P. Gilbreth and Natalie M. Sager of Crowder and Scoggins in Columbia.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-404.