CLAY – State Farm Insurance is suing General Motors after one of its clients' GM-made cars caught on fire, claiming the motor company is responsible for reimbursing State Farm for the cost of the claim.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. filed a lawsuit on Oct. 29 in Clay Circuit Court against General Motors LLC, citing breach of implied warranty of merchantability and negligence.
The insurance company claims that one of their Clay clients submitted a claim in January stating that their 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, manufactured by GM, suddenly caught fire, and they were forced to rent another mode of transportation. The insurance company alleges it was GM's responsibility to make sure that its vehicles were manufactured correctly and without defect and that they failed to do so. State Farm claims they paid $21,282.24 to their clients to cover the insurance claim, and that GM should be made to pay that sum.
State Farm is seeking the full amount of the insurance payout, plus prejudgment and post-judgment interest, court costs and other further relief as the court sees fit. State Farm is represented by Christopher P. Deegan and Weber Gallagher Simpson of Stapleton Fires & Newby LLP of Pittsburgh. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Richard A. Facemire.
Clay Circuit Court Case number 15-C-41