Cloninger v. National General Insurance

On November 20, 1981, the plaintiff, Duane Cloninger, was injured while a passenger in an automobile. Cloninger sued the driver of the automobile in which he was a passenger and received a settlement in the amount of $16,000. The settlement amount represented the limits of the driver’s insurance coverage.

Cloninger claimed that his damages exceeded the settlement amount and sought to recover additional sums under his own automobile insurance policy which was issued by the defendant, National General Insurance (National). The policy covered the plaintiff’s three automobiles. National denied…