State Farm asks court to limit claimants in crash

An insurance company has sued to keep three people involved in a vehicle crash from making coverage claims.

State Farm filed a complaint for declaratory judgment May 5 in Cook County Circuit Court against Tromeika Dunlap, Yelrisha Dunlap and Winter Primus.

According to the complaint, the three defendants aren't allowed to have uninsured motorist or medical coverage due to their connection to a Jan. 22, 2014, auto accident. On Jan. 23, 2014, a State Farm-covered driver named Louis Roy contacted State Farm and informed an agent that Tromeika Dunlap was allowed to drive his 2005 Volvo, the suit says. Dunlap, he allegedly said, had just been involved in an accident involving a hit-and-run driver. He also said that no other drivers were in the car when the collision occurred, and no one had been injured, the suit says.

But on Feb. 6, 2014, an attorney representing all the defendants told State Farm he was representing each of them as uninsured motorists, the suit says. At that time, it was learned that Dunlap and Primus had been passengers in the car, the complaint says.

State Farm has asked a judge to rule there shouldn't be coverage for any of the defendants, since the incident had been misrepresented at the time of the initial claim. The plaintiff is represented by attorneys Frederick J. Sudekum and John A. Lanoue, of Sudekum, Cassidy and Shulruff in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No.: 15-CH-7323.