A federal judge in Illinois denied an insurance company’s motion to dismiss a Turo driver’s attempts to recover $1 million in underinsured motorist coverage, concluding that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged that a material change in the peer-to-peer rental company’s policy from 2016 to 2019.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis for the Northern District of Illinois denied a motion to dismiss filed by defendant Liberty Surplus Insurance Corp., after plaintiff Jeniffer Aguilar Alvarado requested $1 million in underinsured motorist coverage. In December 2019, Aguilar Alvarado rented a vehicle through the peer-to-peer car-sharing application, Turo, and she was allegedly struck by a drunk driver and sought coverage through Liberty Surplus, which denied coverage. Her complaint against the insurance company was initially dismissed for failure to state a claim in 2024, but she was granted leave to amend and replead her claim that a material change in the insurance policy caused her loss to be covered by the defendant.