Insurance agents owe a duty to obtain the insurance and thecoverage limits the customer requests. But when someone is hurt bythe insured's actions, can the injured person, who isn't a party tothe contract between the insured and the carrier, sue the agentbecause there wasn't enough insurance coverage to pay for thedamages incurred? That was the question in a recent Ohio case thatconsidered the issue of third-party recovery.

A criminally negligent dump truck driver caused an auto accidentin which Lisa Emahiser was killed and her son was injured. Itbecame apparent that the driver's employer, the dump truck companyRickey Paving, was inadequately insured under federal and stateregulations as a commercial carrier. Its policy was capped at$50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident.

Lisa Emahiser's estate claimed that Rickey Paving's agencyComplete Coverage Insurance (CCI) was liable for “negligentprocurement” by failing to have obtained the regulated amount of$750,000 in coverage for its client and that CCI should beresponsible for all this accident's damages.