Article ID: 6c4c6b3d315f4db43bb61b32dcce36afb3f4f75c421bfe36f977eb4252d9d0c2
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URL: https://www.businessinsurance.com/insurer-owes-no-duty-to-defend-trucker-in-fatal-crash-suit/
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Insurer owes no duty to defend trucker in fatal crash suit - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Insurer owes no duty to defend trucker in fatal crash suit by Richard Sine Auto liability , Claims Disputes Aug 14, 2026 Cincinnati Insurance has no obligation to defend or indemnify a truck driver who was hit with a $5.1 million default judgment in a wrongful-death case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Monday, finding the driver’s late notice of the lawsuit left the insurer unable to mount a defense. The case, Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Owens, stemmed from a December 2013 crash in which Wayne Hunt, an employee of Wilmington Shipping Company, was driving a Penske truck when he collided with another vehicle. Christopher McLean, a passenger in the other vehicle, died in the crash. Levi Owens, representing Mr. McLean’s estate, sued Mr. Hunt in 2016 in the Court of Common Pleas of Marlboro County, South Carolina. Mr. Hunt never answered the complaint, and the court entered a default judgment against him for $5.1 million in 2021. Cincinnati Insurance, headquartered in Fairfield, Ohio, said it did not learn of the lawsuit until the judgment was entered. Cincinnati sued in federal court in South Carolina in November 2022, seeking a declaration that it owed no duty to defend or indemnify Mr. Hunt because it had not received timely notice of the case. The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, based in Florence, agreed, and Judge Jacquelyn Denise Austin granted summary judgment to the insurer in June 2025. On appeal, Mr. Owens argued the district court should have paused the case while related motions were pending in state court, and that he should have been permitted to add a counterclaim under a federal trucking-insurance provision known as the MCS-90 endorsement. The three-judge panel rejected both arguments. The court held that the MCS-90 endorsement, which guarantees payment of judgments against motor carriers regardless of policy exclusions, applies only to the motor carrier named in the policy — Wilmington Shipping Company, based in Wilmington, North Carolina — not to Mr. Hunt individually. 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