An Ohio commercial auto insurer is in federal court in Seattle arguing it owes nothing on a damaged 1962 Volvo P1800, claiming its trucker used an uninsured truck, unrated drivers, and then stopped returning its calls.
United Financial Casualty Company filed the declaratory judgment action on May 19, 2026 in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. The complaint names PSG Transport Inc as the named insured, broker SGT Auto Transport Corp, Washington vehicle owner John Mullooly, and Mullooly's insurer American Family Home Insurance Company, which is pursuing the claim as his subrogee.
The complaint says Mullooly contacted SGT Auto Transport on March 14, 2024 to ship the classic Volvo from California to Washington. SGT brokered the job to PSG. PSG picked the car up in Los Angeles on or around March 19, 2024. Four days later, the filing alleges, the Volvo "rolled off the car carrier trailer tracks and was pinned against the front column of the trailer" during delivery to Mullooly.
American Family sent UFCC a pre-suit demand on or around December 30, 2024 - $15,556.15 in actual damages plus $883.00 in out-of-pocket costs, according to the complaint. American Family and Mullooly later sued PSG and SGT in Snohomish County Superior Court on February 9, 2026, seeking at least $83,389.15 in damages.
UFCC says the policy doesn't reach any of it. As described in the complaint, commercial auto policy 04420582-1 was endorsed with a Motor Truck Cargo Legal Liability Coverage Endorsement carrying maximum limits of $250,000 and a $2,500 deductible. It listed one insured vehicle - a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado - and two rated drivers, Garik Khachatryan and Arsen Gabrielyan.
The Volvo, the filing alleges, was loaded onto a 2023 Freightliner Cascadia tractor truck. The dispatch sheet listed the driver as "Lomeli." The bill of lading listed the pickup driver as Karen Apikyan. Mullooly described the delivery driver as a man who "did not speak good English" and identified him as Sergei Khrishchatyi. According to UFCC, none of the three is rated under the policy.
The insurer points to the endorsement's insuring agreement, which it quotes as paying out only when the cargo is in the insured's "exclusive physical custody and control" either "in due course of transit in, on, or attached to an insured auto" or "during loading or unloading." Because the truck in use was not an insured auto, UFCC argues, neither limb fits.
The same endorsement excludes "Any property while in the physical custody of any other carrier," another exclusion the insurer is invoking.
Cooperation is the third leg of the argument. The policy, the complaint says, requires the insured to "promptly report each accident or loss," provide proof of loss within 60 days of request, sit for an examination under oath, and authorize access to business records. UFCC says it made "at least ten attempts" to reach PSG and its principal, Garik Papinovich Khachatryan, including written notices on January 6, January 29, and February 19, 2025, and emails on January 6 and January 27, 2025. According to the filing, PSG has refused to sit for an examination under oath and has not produced the documents UFCC asked for.
The insurer wants the court to declare it owes no defense and no indemnity to PSG, American Family, Mullooly, or SGT.
The allegations have not been tested in court. The defendants have not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled.
