Headlines

Jewelry Store Wins $350,000 Suit Against Insurer Over Armed Robbery Case

The policy’s wording was ‘ambiguous.’

Published

5 years ago

September 25, 2019

INSTORE Staff

Lloyd’s of London Inc. must pay $349,507 to a jeweler in connection with losses from a 2013 armed robbery, an Illinois appellate court has ruled

Lloyd’s underwriters had argued that that they didn’t need to cover the losses of Turmusaya Jewelry Inc. in Burbank, IL, Law360 reports. They said the company failed to have two employees on duty as its policy required.

Turmusaya sued for breach of contract, and the Cook County Circuit Court ruled in favor of the jeweler. the appellate court upheld the ruling.

According to Law360, Turmusaya “argued the policy was ambiguous because the two-person warranty was an express warranty, but the policy stated there were no express warranties.”

Judge Jesse G. Reyes of the appeals panel wrote, “As recognized by our supreme court, we will not ‘adopt an interpretation which rests on “gossamer distinctions” that the average person, for whom the policy is written, cannot be expected to understand.'”

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After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”