The Indiana Court of Appeals is sending an insurance dispute back to Tipton Circuit Court to figure out how the mother of a teen killed in a car accident should receive more money.
Brittney Best had filed a claim against Travelers Insurance and AAA Insurance after her 17-year-old son, Jaxson, died in a 2023 accident. Best and the boy’s father had split a $100,000 payout from State Farm insurance, which had covered the tortfeasor, or the driver who crossed the road’s center line and hit the car Jaxson was riding in, according to an appeals court opinion filed late last week.
That payout represented the policy’s underinsured motorist coverage per-person limit. Best then made a claim against the other two insurers, which covered her son and the car he was riding in, for the balance of the $100,000 policy limit not paid by State Farm.
Best filed suit with the Tipton Circuit Court, which dismissed her claim to the underinsured motorist coverage. Travelers and AAA argued Best was not underinsured because she and the boy’s father, who never married, each received $50,000 from State Farm. That added up to the plan’s policy limit.
Indiana Appellate Judge Nancy Vaidik wrote in the opinion that the trial court erred in its ruling and noted the Indiana Supreme Court established a standard for determining whether a vehicle was “underinsured” under Indiana law. The standard is whether the amount received is more or less than the liability limit.
“Because the $50,000 Best received from State Farm is less than the $100,000 limit for (underinsured motorist) coverage in both the AAA and Travelers policies, the trial court erred in concluding that Best is not entitled to UIM benefits,” the judge opined.
The appeals court reversed the lower court’s dismissal of Best’s complaint and sent the case back to Tipton Circuit Court, which will decide how Best will collect the additional $50,000.
The case is Brittney Best v. The Standard Fire Insurance Company d/b/a Travelers Insurance and CSAA General Insurance Company d/b/a AAA Insurance.
This article was first published by The Indiana Lawyer.
