Bank sued over premium

Thursday, March 18, 1999 | 11:33 a.m.

A Clark County man who arranged automatic withdrawals from his bank account to pay an insurance premium is suing the bank for missing payments.

In a suit filed in Clark County District Court, Charles Fallon said he was denied a $150,000 death benefit from Farmers Insurance when his wife died because the bank failed to pay the insurance company two months prior to the death.

Wells Fargo Bank, the successor of First Interstate Bank, was accused of breach of customer agreements, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and negligence in the suit filed earlier this month.

According to the suit, Fallon arranged in 1993 for the automatic deduction of funds from his First Interstate Bank account to pay premiums on a life insurance policy for his wife, Linda. Fallon said the bank offered him overdraft guarantees.

When Fallon's wife died, he submitted a claim to the insurance company. The company rejected the claim, saying the March 1998 premium was returned unpaid because of an overdraft from the account.

The suit said Fallon believed he had overdraft protection and had money in other accounts.

Wells Fargo had no comment on the suit.