EAST ST. LOUIS – Esurance Insurance needs to know whether it covered a car while a repossession man towed it.
The insurer filed for declaratory judgment in U.S. district court on Oct. 7, to resolve a coverage dispute in a Madison County crash suit.
To seek relief, Esurance sued both sides in the Madison County action.
Esurance counsel Beth Boggs of Olivette, Mo. wrote, “The subject Acura was not being used by an insured at the time of the accident.”
Boggs wrote that Esurance covers a driver that a policy didn’t name, if the driver has the owner’s permission.
She wrote that tow truck driver Frank Smith and his employers at United Auto Delivery and Recovery didn’t have permission.
The accident happened in 2018, as Smith towed a 2015 Acura.
Lindsey Consentino of Missouri carried an Esurance policy on the car with a $100,000 limit per person.
The truck hit the rear of a school bus.
In 2019, bus driver Jennifer Tucker of Granite City filed an injury suit against Smith, his employer, and lienholder Bridgecrest Credit.
According to Boggs, Tucker alleges that coverage existed because Smith was using the Acura, which was under his control.
Boggs wrote that Tucker sought declaratory judgment for coverage and Esurance moved to sever the claim from the rest of the suit.
She wrote that in response, Tucker dismissed Esurance without prejudice.
She wrote that resolution of Esurance’s complaint would dispose of all issues arising out of the policy.
Tucker's counsel in Madison County is Erin Phillips of Wood River.
District Judge Stephen McGlynn is assigned to the Esurance case.