Driver, accident victims team up to challenge insurer’s refusal to pay

A Kansas City driver and two accident victims on opposite sides of an insurance settlement have joined together to successfully challenge the insurer’s subsequent refusal to pay the claim.

Laurie Shepherd Slaughter and her sister Angela, who represented their father’s estate, initially sued David Knox in May 2010 in Jackson County Circuit Court after the September 2008 accident.

Knox was driving a 1995 Pontiac Trans Sport owned by his neighbor when he struck a 1994 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Louis Slaughter at the intersection of Brooklyn Avenue and East 29th Street in Kansas City.

Both Slaughter and his daughter, a passenger in the Silverado pickup, suffered moderate injuries, said plaintiff’s attorney Aaron Schwartz. Slaughter died of cancer in March 2011, Schwartz said.

A Jackson County judge initially ruled that Louis Slaughter’s estate was entitled to $800,000 and Laurie Shepherd Slaughter was entitled to $65,000. But the court granted summary judgment to a request by Sentry Insurance for a declaratory judgment.

The company, which initially accepted a property damage claim against Knox’s policy, argued that its “non-owner” coverage of Knox didn’t cover liability claims since he regularly used the borrowed vehicle. The lower court decision was overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals’ Western District in December 2011.

Knox, Shepherd Slaughter and Louis Slaughter’s estate then sued Viking Insurance Co. of Wisconsin and Sentry Insurance in April 2013, alleging vexatious refusal to defend and a bad faith refusal to investigate and settle.

The suit was filed in Jackson County but removed to the U.S. District Court’s Western District for Missouri since the two sides were based in different states and the claim involved an amount greater than $75,000.

The lawsuit was settled for $300,000 in October, Schwartz said. Defense attorney Abbigale A. Gentle confirmed the settlement amount.

Schwartz said the breakdown of amounts received is confidential.

$300,000 Settlement

Insurance

Venue: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

Judge: Dean Whipple

Case Number/Date: 13-CV-00540/Oct. 4, 2013

Caption: David Knox, Laurie Shepherd Slaughter and the estate of Louis Slaughter v. Viking Insurance Co. of Wisconsin, Sentry Insurance

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Richard T. Merker and Aaron E. Schwartz, Wallace, Saunders, Austin, Brown & Enochs, Kansas City

Defendants’ Attorneys: W. James Foland and Abbigale A. Gentle, Foland, Wickens Eisfelder Roper and Hofer, Kansas City