A deadly traffic accident in Youngstown is the basis for a court ruling that insurance companies can deny coverage if policyholders are not completely accurate when they fill out their application.

The Ohio Supreme Court Ruled on Wednesday that Nationwide Insurance was within its rights when it refused to cover damages after a car driven by  Barbara Pusser of Struthers struck and killed 33-year-old Robert Boak of Austintown as he was walking along Midlothian Boulevard on August 13, 2012.

In 2014, Pusser pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, tampering with records, and forgery.

She was sentenced to seven years in prison and her driver's license was suspended for life.

According to the court, at the time of the accident Pusser had been driving a Dodge Neon owned by Pusser’s sister, who had claimed on her Nationwide insurance application that there were no other people in her household who would operate the car.  

In fact, Pusser had been living at her sister’s home when the application was made, according to the court.

Boak’s estate and another driver sought compensation from the Nationwide insurance policy held by Pusser’s sister.

In a 6-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Nationwide made it clear in the policy was a warranty, which if incorrect, could void the policy from the beginning.

 Justice Michael P. Donnelly stated the Court had ruled previously that an insurer can only void a policy based on misstatements in the application if it specifically warns the applicant of the consequence when issuing a policy. He wrote that Nationwide’s policy plainly explained that the information in the application would become part of the policy and warned of the consequences of making a misstatement about other drivers.

The decision reversed the Seventh District Court of Appeals, which found the phrase “could void the policy” too ambiguous to decline coverage for the sister after Pusser caused a fatal accident when driving the sister’s car.  The Supreme Court held the “nonmandatory nature” of the word “could” does not change the fact that Nationwide warned that a misstatement in the application voids the policy from the beginning.