GALVESTON - An insurance company targeted in a lawsuit over a purported arson at a Bacliff recreational vehicle park countered the allegations against it.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. filed an original answer Aug. 19 into William Montgomery, doing business as Pelican RV Park, and Artesia, N.M., resident Joe Torres's suit.
The suit alleges that Bacliff local Shirley Ekstrom is responsible for a fire two years ago which damaged “multiple” fixtures and properties, including Torres’s 2007 Holiday RV.
Court papers submitted last month pinpoint the July 17, 2011, blaze in question to Eckstrom’s adjacent garage.
The Galveston County Sheriff’s Department determined arson to be the cause of the inferno, and the original petition shows it consumed Torres’s vehicle and the contents contained within while it purportedly cost Montgomery three months of income.
According to the suit, State Farm is also being sued because it apparently failed and refused to cover Torres's reported damages.
Its three-page answer contends that there is "(no) standing to bring any of the claims against this defendant."
"The plaintiffs did not sustain any injuries or damages as a result of any act or omission of the defendant," the response says.
Attorney Warren Taylor of Taylor, Taylor & Russell in Houston is representing the respondent.
Case No. 13-CV-912
Insurer responds to suit over RV park fire
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