Jordan, et al. v. Safeco Ins. Co. of IL, No. 12-3881 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against Safeco seeking to stack the underinsured motorist coverage from various policies she and her husband had taken out with Safeco for their five vehicles. On appeal, plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Safeco. The court rejected Safeco's argument that the Missouri Supreme Court in Ritchie v. Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Co. limited its holding to situations where the insured was occupying a non-owned vehicle at the time the injury was suffered and was not applicable to plaintiff because she was a pedestrian at the time of the accident. The court concluded that whether the policy in Ritchie required occupancy of a non-owned vehicle was not specifically decided by the Missouri Supreme Court. From the Missouri Supreme Court's holding in Ritchie, the court believed it would reject the Missouri Court of Appeals decision in Kennedy v. Safeco Insurance Co. of Illinois. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded with instructions to grant plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment and to conduct further proceedings.
Court Description: Civil case - Insurance. The district court erred in determining that the Missouri Supreme Court's decision in Ritchie v. Allied Property & Casualty, 307 S.W. 3d 132 (Mo. 2009), which permitted the stacking of underinsured motorist coverage, was limited to the special situation where the insured is occupying a vehicle the insured does not own and would not cover a situation where the insured was a pedestrian; remanded for further proceedings.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.