Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog

As a St. Louis personal injury lawyer, I was interested to read a court decision voiding certain limitations in insurance contracts as contrary to Missouri public policy. The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made that decision in Carolyn Schubert v. Auto Owners Insurance Policy, a case about an insurance payout for a home destroyed by fire. Carolyn Schubert and her husband’s stepdaughter, Deborah Lee Weiss, stipulated to each owning half of the home after Schubert’s husband, Thomas Schubert, died. Because of this, and because of a provision in the insurance contract, Auto Owners maintained that it owed Schubert only half of the total value of the policy, or $62,250 instead of $124,500. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found that this was voided as against public policy, and the Eighth Circuit agreed.

The Schuberts married in 2005 and Thomas Schubert died in 2006. Because he left no will, Carolyn Schubert and Weiss, who was Thomas’s stepdaughter from his first marriage, agreed in probate proceedings that each owned 50 percent of the home. Weiss was living there at the time. After the death, Carolyn Schubert continued making premium payments regularly and renewed the home’s insurance policy twice, although she had also told Auto Owners that she was not sure whether she legally owned the house. However, three months after the probate agreement, Weiss intentionally set the home on fire, causing it to be completely destroyed. Schubert made an insurance claim after the fire. Auto Owners agreed to pay only half, citing a provision in the policy saying it would pay no more than the “insurable interest” the insured had in the property. Schubert filed a lawsuit seeking the full amount, alleging breach of contract and vexatious refusal to pay. The district court ultimately found for Schubert on breach of contract, finding that the provision was both ambiguous and against Missouri’s valued policy statute. Auto Owners appealed.

On appeal, the Eighth Circuit first decided that it did indeed have jurisdiction, because the entire amount in controversy, $124,500, exceeded the $75,000 legal threshold. It then turned to the question of whether the Auto Owners contract provision did indeed violate Missouri law. The valued contract statute says the value of the property, as listed in the contract, is conclusive unless there was fraud or other wrongdoing. In the case of a total loss, the statute expressly says the settlement should be the amount for which the property was insured. To receive a settlement, the person should have an insurable interest — that is, suffer a financial loss from the property’s destruction or a financial gain from its preservation. This is true regardless of who has title to the property. Furthermore, it noted that Missouri law has generally granted full payments to part owners, absent substantial changes in ownership or strict definitions of interest. The Eighth also agreed that the clause at issue is ambiguous because it failed to define “insurable interest.” Thus, it upheld the district court’s decision and called for Schubert to recover the full policy amount.

This is good news for Missouri plaintiffs and Missouri personal injury attorneys like me, because it allows plaintiffs to recover more money to help them deal with their serious physical and financial injuries. I most often deal with insurance through auto accident cases, where insurance companies can be notoriously unwilling to pay claims, even when the language of their policies makes it clear that they must. Insurance companies routinely offer less than the claim is worth, relying on injured people not to understand their rights. Some insurers deny that the victims are as badly injured as they say, but they may also undervalue the vehicle or the cost of repairs. My job as a southern Illinois car accident lawyer is to fight for a full settlement, through negotiations or, if necessary, in court.

Continue reading "Eighth Circuit Upholds Voiding of Insurance Provision Limiting Recovery as Contrary to Public Policy – Schubert v. Auto Owners Ins. Co." »

An explosion at a chemical plant left a worker seriously burned and rocked nearby homes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported April 14. The explosion took place late on Easter Sunday, when an overnight shift worker mixed two chemicals at the SantoLubes plant in St. Charles, northwest of the city. SantoLubes makes lubricants and insecticides, and the chemical mixing was supposed to be a routine step in that process. The owner of the plant speculated that contamination in the equipment may have caused the explosion.

The victim, a 38-year employee of the company, is expected to live and was listed in satisfactory condition at a nearby hospital. However, the article said, he suffered burns over 30% of his body. That number may not mean much to folks who have never worked with burn victims, but as a Missouri burn injury lawyer, I know how serious a burn that large can be. On an adult, burns over more than 25% of the body are considered severe. In addition to the pain, which can be considerable, such large burns can be a serious threat to the patient’s life, inviting infections and dehydration. Later, scars can develop that are not only disfiguring but sometimes disabling.

Not much information was available on the cause of the explosion when the Post-Dispatch story ran. But accidents at work are one of the most common causes of serious burns. Workers can be burned on the job by contact with hot surfaces like a griddle or a hot-water heater; electrocution and electrical burns; explosions; steam or hot water; contact with chemicals; or ordinary fire. All employers in the United States must comply with federal occupational safety laws intended to prevent these accidents, but many workplaces fall short, due to lax management or intentional cost-cutting. If a worker is seriously injured on the job in a way that full compliance could have prevented, the employer may be legally liable for a Missouri burn injury lawsuit.

At the Lowe Law Firm, our St. Louis serious burn attorneys help occupational burn victims recover the financial compensation they need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs; keep their families financially secure while they cannot work; and compensate them for their pain, suffering and possible lifetime of disfiguring or disabling scars. If you or someone you love was seriously burned because of someone else’s carelessness and you would like to learn more, we would like to help. To schedule a free, confidential consultation about a possible St. Louis severe burn lawsuit, please contact us online or call us at 1-877-678-3400, or, in St. Louis, at (314) 678-3400.

A woman has died of injuries sustained in a house fire caused by faulty electrical wiring, the News-Sun of Camdenton, Mo. reported Feb. 10. Violet Marie Simpson, 86, suffered burns and smoke inhalation during the fire in the early morning hours of Dec. 28. She and another person in the house managed to escape and go to a neighbor’s house to call the fire department at about 3:45 a.m., but not before Simpson sustained serious burn injuries and smoke inhalation injuries. She was hospitalized for more than a month before she passed away.

Unfortunately, electrical wiring problems are a consistent and widespread cause of house fires like this one. According to the Red Cross, problems with electrical wiring of homes and appliances are the leading cause of house fires, ahead of cigarette accidents, cooking accidents and children playing with matches. In many cases, the faulty wiring is the fault of a company that did substandard electrical work or made and sold a defectively wired consumer product. When that’s the case, that company is legally responsible for any injuries or deaths that result.

That legal responsibility could be especially important in cases like this one, where the victims must be hospitalized for long periods. That’s a common problem with burn injuries that affect a large amount of the victim’s skin (around 30% for adults with second-degree burns). Without our skin, we lose our first barrier against infections and our bodies’ ability to regulate temperature, hydration and other functions that are basic to good health. Victims of severe burns frequently must visit special wards to get the care they need, and may need surgery or dermatology care for years afterward. In addition to being painful and traumatic, unfortunately, this is also very expensive.

If a manufacturer, home builder or other party is found legally liable for the victims’ injuries in a Missouri burn injuries lawsuit, those victims can collect compensation for their costs and injuries. That includes the cost of past and future medical care for their burns, as well as compensation for any permanent disability or loss of a loved one; pain and suffering; and other financial costs, like the loss of property in the home. The Lowe Law Firm handles this type of case for clients throughout Missouri and southern Illinois. Our experienced Missouri burn injury attorneys even offer free case evaluations, so there’s no risk in speaking to us about your case.

If you’ve lost someone or been severely burned in a fire caused by someone else’s carelessness and you’d like to learn more, you can contact the Lowe Law Firm online or call us toll-free at 1-877-678-3400 today.