EAST ST. LOUIS – Penn-Star Insurance Company has removed a lawsuit to federal court, which claims that the insurance company refuses to pay a claim on a property that burned down.
The lawsuit was originally filed by plaintiff Nathaniel Jeffries in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Penn-Star Insurance Company, Mixon Insurance Agency, and Hudlen and Company Insurance, citing breach of contract. Penn-Star Insurance Company filed a notice of removal to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois through attorney Corey L. Kraushaar of Brown & James, P.C. in St. Louis.
In the notice of removal to federal court, which was filed on Dec. 7, Kraushaar wrote that removal is proper based on the diversity of citizenship. Specifically the court requires the parties to be citizens of different states and the amount in question to exceed $75,000 in order to have diversity jurisdiction.
According to the removal, since Penn-Star is a citizen of Pennsylvania, Jeffries is a citizen of Illinois, and the amount in question exceeds $75,000, complete diversity of jurisdiction exists in this matter.
The defendant adds that both Mixon and Hudlen are fictitious names and that their citizenship should be disregarded. Penn-Star claims neither have been served with the summons and complaint, so their consent to removal is not required.
In its notice of removal, Penn-Star also argues that it investigated the claim, "including having multiple engineers perform multiple inspections of the subject property." The insurer allegedly denied the claim under the 'Concealment, Misrepresentation, and Fraud and the Dishonest or Criminal Act exclusions of the policy.'"
According to original lawsuit, Jeffries had an insurance policy with the defendants, which provided $200,000 in coverage for a business property in East St. Louis.
Jeffries states that on May 17, 2018, the property was destroyed in a fire. He alleges the insurance policy was paid in full and in full effect at the time of the incident. The plaintiff states that despite this, the defendants have denied his claims to provide coverage for the damages. Jeffries adds that before denying coverage, the defendants failed to perform an investigation of the incident to determine if there were witnesses to provide information that would have been helpful to their inspection. Jeffries claims the defendants have since refused to investigate, discuss, or evaluate his claim.
The plaintiff is seeking relief to cover damages in excess of $25,000, plus interest, attorney fees, penalties, and any other relief the court deems proper. He is represented in this case by attorney Michael E. Reid of M. Reid Legal Solutions, LLC in Edwardsville.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:22-CV-02853-RJD