Actions

Court backs insurer: No $300K payout in head-on crash

Posted

A federal court has ruled in favor of an insurance company, which refused to pay $300,000 after a Michigan man and his mother died in a head-on crash.

There's no dispute that the crash caused the deaths in 2014 in Van Buren County. But a doctor looked at the case and concluded that 66-year-old Robert Krugman of Berrien County likely drifted out of his lane because of a heart attack.

Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co. rejected any payout, saying the doctor's opinion triggered a key exception in Krugman's policy: No money would be paid if a heart attack contributed to an accidental death.

A federal appeals court backed the insurance company Monday in a 3-0 decision.