American Economy Insurance Company v. Ray Jones and Randy Cleaves

• Court: District Court, S.D. Illinois
• Decided: February 18, 2026
• Docket: 3:23-cv-02602
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

AMERICAN ECONOMY INSURANCE COMPANY,

Plaintiff, Case No. 23-cv-2602-RJD-JPG v.

RAY JONES and RANDY CLEAVES,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This matter comes before the Court on the Report and Recommendation (“Report”) (Doc. 88) of Magistrate Judge Reona J. Daly recommending that the Court grant plaintiff American Economy Insurance Company’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. 69) and motion for default judgment (Doc. 79) and enter a judgment declaring that the homeowner’s insurance policy issued by the plaintiff to defendant Ray Jones does not provide coverage for defendant Randy Cleave’s claim against him in an underlying tort suit and that therefore the plaintiff has no duty to defend or indemnify Jones or Cleaves in that suit. The Court may accept, reject or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations of the magistrate judge in a report and recommendation. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(3). The Court must review de novo the portions of the report to which objections are made. Id.; United States v. Gibson, 958 F.3d 661, 662 (7th Cir. 2020). “If no objection or only partial objection is made, the district court judge reviews those unobjected portions for clear error.” Johnson v. Zema Sys. Corp., 170 F.3d 734, 739 (7th Cir. 1999); see Gibson, 958 F.3d at 663. The Court has received no objection to the Report. The Court has reviewed the entire file and finds that the Report is not clearly erroneous. Accordingly, the Court: • ADOPTS the Report in its entirety (Doc. 88); • GRANTS American Economy’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. 69); • GRANTS American Economy’s motion for default judgment (Doc. 79); and • DIRECTS the Clerk of Court to enter judgment accordingly, including a declaration that: American Economy Insurance Company Homeowners Policy number OZ4928775, issued to defendant Ray Jones, provides no liability coverage for the claims of defendant Randy Cleaves against defendant Ray Jones in Randy Cleaves v. Ray Jones, Cause No. 2023LA2, in the Circuit Court for the First Judicial Circuit, Alexander County, Illinois; and plaintiff American Economy Insurance Company has no duty to defend or to indemnify defendant Ray Jones or defendant Randy Cleaves in that action.

IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: February 18, 2026

s/ J. Phil Gilbert J. PHIL GILBERT DISTRICT JUDGE