AUSTIN - The Texas Supreme Court recently found that Elephant Insurance did not owe a duty to an insured motorist whose spouse was killed while taking photos of her single-car accident.
In her lawsuit, Lorraine Kenyon claimed that Elephant negligently instructed her to take photos following her accident. Her spouse was on the side of the road taking photos when he was struck by another vehicle and killed.
A trial court found the insurer owed no duty to Kenyon. An appellate court reversed the ruling, court records show.
On Friday, the Supreme Court found Elephant did not owe a duty applicable to the circumstance alleged, and that the trial court properly granted summary judgment on Kenyon’s negligence, negligent-undertaking, negligent-training, and gross-negligence theories.
“The issue of first impression in this wrongful-death and survival action is whether the automobile insurer owed the motorist and her husband a duty to process a single-vehicle accident claim without requesting that the insured take photographs or to issue a safety warning along with any such request,” the opinion states.
“Balancing the factors relevant to ‘determining the existence, scope, and elements of legal duties,’ we agree with the trial court that the insurer bore no such duty. We therefore reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and render judgment for the insurer.”
Case No. 20-0366