Illinois Supreme Court Corrects Error of Policy Interpretation

The Illinois Supreme Court has once again corrected an error of insurance policy interpretation by the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District and held that the mechanical device exclusion in the policy in question was not ambiguous. The case is State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Elmore, 2020 IL 125441.

At issue in this case was the enforceability of a “mechanical device” exclusion in an automobile policy that was issued by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm). Keith Elmore was injured while unloading grain from a truck owned by his father, Ardith Sheldon Elmore (Sheldon). Kent helped Sheldon with his grain farm operation in 2013, and was filling an empty grain truck with grain when an accident occurred caused by an auger with no protective shield. In the accident Kent lost his right leg below the knee, and surgery was later required to remove the leg just above the knee.