Insurer Says Exclusion Bars Payment in Nebraska Pastor’s Death

An insurance company specializing in policies for churches is asking a federal court to absolve it from paying a claim by the widow of a central Nebraska pastor who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a house owned by the church he led.

John Green had been pastor of Clay Center Christian Church for 23 years when he was found dead in the home on Nov. 19, 2009. His wife, Cheryl, was found unconscious and flown to an Omaha hospital. Authorities said the pair had been poisoned by a carbon monoxide leak from the home’s heating system.

Cheryl Green sued the church, hoping its insurer would pay nearly $260,000 in lost wages, as well as more than $55,000 for medical bills incurred by the poisoning and $10,000 for funeral expenses.

In a lawsuit filed in Omaha’s federal court, Church Mutual Insurance Co. attorney Christian Preus said the church’s policy excludes coverage for carbon monoxide and other pollutants.

“I don’t know all insurance policies, but it’s a standard exclusion in most, if not the great majority, of homeowners insurance policies, and in most liability policies issued for businesses, too,” Preus said. “It’s a very, very standard, very well-known exclusion.”

The exclusion means Church Mutual should not have to pay the claims, he said.

An attorney for Clay Center Christian Church disputes that and said Church Mutual is “jumping the gun and filing this case to try and escape their responsibility to live up to their obligations under the policy.”

According to Lincoln attorney Jeff Downing, “Church Mutual tout themselves as the largest insurer to church congregations, and their Web site fairly well documents that point. … One of the ways they do that is by marketing themselves as a company that ‘at every point of contact creates a relationship that’s about more than just business.’ We believe they should be held to that representation.”

Preus declined to categorize the company’s lawsuit as a pre-emptive strike before Cheryl Green and the church can file their own lawsuits against the company.

“From the insurance company’s standpoint, it’s: Do we owe the money or not? If we owe it, we owe it; if we don’t, we don’t,” he said. “We don’t think we do, but we want to make sure we’re right.”

An attorney for Cheryl Green did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press seeking comment.