On February 11, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals issued an opinion on the order of priority of coverage in a trucking claim coverage dispute, finding that under Illinois law, two insurers had equal payment priority and must pay the amount proportional to their respective coverage limits.

In Great West Casualty Co. v. Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Co et al., the court considered the Other Insurance Clauses of two policies, issued by Great West Casualty Co. (“Great West”) and Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Co. (“Nationwide”), respectively, as applied to an underlying auto accident case. A tractor-trailer driven by Robert Fisher collided with an SUV, killing the driver. Fisher was an agent of Deerpass Farms Trucking, LLC-II (“Deerpass Trucking”), the tractor was owned by Deerpass Farms Services, LLC (“Deerpass Farms”), and the trailer was owned by Conserv FS, Inc. (“Conserv”).

The Great West and Nationwide policies both cover Fisher, Deerpass Trucking, and Conserv. The insurers disputed their order of priority.

The Great West Other Insurance clause provides in relevant part:

b. While any covered “auto” is hired or borrowed by you from another “motor carrier,” this Coverage Form’s Covered Autos Liability Coverage is:

(1) Primary if a written agreement between the other “motor carrier” as the lessor and you as the lessee does not require the lessor to hold you harmless, and then only while the covered “auto” is used exclusively in your business as a “motor carrier” for hire.

(2) Excess over any other collectible insurance if a written agreement between the other “motor carrier” as the lessor and you as the lessee requires the lessor to hold you harmless.

The Nationwide Other Insurance clause provides in relevant part:

a. For any covered “auto” you own, this Coverage Form provides primary insurance. For any covered “auto” you don’t own, the insurance provided by this Coverage Form is excess over any other collectible insurance. However, while a covered “auto” which is a “trailer” is connected to another vehicle, the Covered Autos Liability Coverage this coverage Form provides for the “trailer” is:

(1) Excess while it is connected to a motor vehicle you do not own; or

(2) Primary, while it is connected to a covered “auto” you own.

Great West consistently argued that its tier of insurance coverage is “super excess” over Nationwide’s, because the relevant clause in its policy states that insurance would be “excess over any other collectible insurance. The Nationwide policy, on the other hand, provides only that it is “excess” in a. 1.

The Seventh Circuit’s ruling is neither a decisive win for insurers nor a decisive loss. The ruling spread the loss evenly and instructs courts to find that minor variations in policy language do not immediately make one carrier excess over the other. The “excess over any other collectible insurance” language is not “super excess”. This ruling emphasizes Illinois courts’ preference for established legal principles over reinterpretations of standard language in place for years.

About Rosa M. Tumialán

Rosa is a partner and Co-Chair of Tressler’s Insurance Practice Group, Chair of the Appellate Team, and a member of the firm’s national Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Rosa focuses her practice on insurance coverage and litigation. She is an accomplished defense attorney with more than twenty years of experience. Rosa’s insurer-related services include coverage opinion analysis and representing insurers in complex coverage disputes relating to personal and commercial lines, third-party claims, surplus lines, as well as claims handling practices and extracontractual liability. She has also litigated environmental coverage disputes throughout the Midwest for various insurers relating to superfund sites. Rosa assists with drafting coverage documents for insurance pools and counsels clients in the administration of the same. Her practice also includes serving as national coordinating coverage counsel for insurance clients who rely on her to develop and implement strategies nationwide in response to pattern litigation. Rosa is an accomplished class action defense lawyer and appellate practitioner, having appeared and argued in both state and federal courts nationwide. Click here to read Rosa’s full attorney bio.

About Kileen Dietrich

Kileen is an associate attorney in Tressler’s Insurance Services Practice Group in the Chicago Office. Kileen focuses her practice on coverage analysis in matters involving a wide range of policies, including professional liability and commercial general liability. Click here to read Kileen’s full attorney bio.