ST. LOUIS – U.S. Magistrate Judge Nannette A. Baker of the Eastern District of Missouri has granted State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.'s unopposed motion to dismiss a case with its insured Stephen G. Peitz Jr. over a fire at his St. Louis condo in August 2017.
"Plaintiff State Farm, having deposited with the Registry of the Court on Jan. 17, 2018, the entire per occurrence policy limits of policy number 25-B7-H816-6, insuring defendants Stephen Peitz Jr. and Mark Harris, is hereby dismissed with prejudice from this action and is hereby discharged from any and all liability for payment of claims made against defendants Peitz and/or Harris, arising out of a fire discovered on Aug. 14, 2017, at the Westport Crossing Condominiums," the June 12 ruling states.
According to Baker's order, a fire had started on Peitz's condo's wooden deck and damaged a number of surrounding units in the Westport Crossings Condominiums. Peitz had held a renter's insurance policy with State Farm with a policy limit of $300,000 per occurrence regardless of the number of claims or claimants
Those affected by the fire made claims on Peitz's policy in an amount exceeding $444,787, the ruling states, so in order to resolve the claims, State Farm filed an interpleader action and named as interpleaded defendants the condo residents and owners who made claims on Peitz's policy.
An interpleader is a procedural device that allows a party holding money or property to join in a single suit two or more parties seeking claims on the fund, the ruling notes.
While some of the neighbors also filed claims with their own insurers, State Farm paid $300,000 into the registry of the court for equitable distribution.
Auto Club Family Insurance interpleaded defendants Jason Squires and Crystal Squires, issuing them payment in excess of $120,000 and to Carl Goodman, issuing him $50,000 for their fire damage.
Auto Club subsequently intervened in the action, asserting the company is subrogated to the rights of the Squires and Goodman, a petition that was granted by the court last month.
In the meantime, other property owners filed counterclaims against State Farm and cross-claims against all the interpleaded defendants. Various other counterclaims and cross-claims also were filed in the action and denied as moot.