EDWARDSVILLE — An Illinois Masonic Lodge has filed a class action against its insurance carrier alleging the insurer is miscalculating claim losses.
Staunton Lodge No. 177, A.F. & A.M., individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed a complaint Sept. 10 in the Madison County Circuit Court against Pekin Insurance Company, alleging breach of contract.
According to the complaint, Pekin sold property insurance in the states of Illinois, Arizona, Ohio and Wisconsin. Staunton Lodge holds a policy from Pekin and claims the policy covers "direct physical loss to the dwelling and other structures" on their premises and that their premiums for the policy were paid in full. Staunton alleges that on Jan. 4, its building suffered damage. After filing a claim, the plaintiff alleges Pekin falsely calculated the lodge's loss based on "replacement cost less depreciation" to figure "actual cash value," which caused a $36,697 deduction to the plaintiff's claim.
Staunton Lodge claims Pekin "breached its obligations" under its policy by "improperly withholding cost of labor as a depreciation" in the repair or replacement of the lodge property and miscalculated its actual cash value as depreciation. Staunton Lodge also claims Pekin's alleged miscalculation led to it receiving "an amount less than it was entitled" according to the policy.
Staunton seeks monetary relief, plus interest and all other proper relief. The plaintiff is represented by Christopher Byron and Christopher Petri of Byron Carslon Petri & Kalb LLC in Edwardsville, T. Joseph Snodgrass of Laron King LLP in Minnesota and David Butsch and Christopher Roberts of Butsch Roberts & Associates LLC in Clayton, Mo.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 20-L-001297