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A major insurance dispute is now unfolding over a deadly 2025 crash that claimed the lives of two Marquette University lacrosse players, with an insurer asking a Wisconsin judge to decide whether it has any obligation to pay claims stemming from the collision.

Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, a Florida-based policyholder-owned property and casualty insurer that serves exclusively high-net-worth individuals and families, filed the lawsuit Sept. 22 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

The marquette lacrosse crash insurance case centers on whether the company’s policy covered 22-year-old Peter J. McColgan when the crash occurred — a question that could determine whether insurance benefits are available to the families of the two students who died.

PURE named McColgan, his parents, the estates of Scott Michaud and Noah Snyder, and Snyder’s mother, Amanda Williams, as defendants.

Deadly Crash Near Marquette Campus

The collision happened Sept. 5, 2025, at North 27th Street and West St. Paul Avenue in Milwaukee, near Marquette’s campus.

McColgan was driving a Jeep when it collided with a vehicle operated by Amandria Brunner. Michaud and Snyder suffered fatal injuries. McColgan and three other Marquette students were also injured.

PURE contends McColgan had insurance through another carrier and therefore was not covered under its policy when the crash occurred. The lawsuit also states that Brunner, 42, of West Allis, did not have insurance at the time.

Brunner was arrested at the crash scene and initially faced six felony charges. Her case included two counts each of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, homicide by use of a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration and homicide by use of a vehicle involving a controlled substance.

Her blood-alcohol concentration was measured at 0.133, nearly twice Wisconsin’s legal limit of 0.08.

A jury, however, found Brunner not guilty of every charge June 18.

Families Sought Policy Benefits

The insurance lawsuit followed efforts by the estates of Michaud and Snyder to obtain benefits under the policy.

PURE is asking the court to determine whether it must provide coverage for claims connected to the crash, rather than leaving the question hanging over the company and the victims’ families.

According to the complaint, the dispute reaches back years into the McColgan family’s insurance arrangements.

Peter D. McColgan and Cheryl McColgan were initially named insureds under PURE’s fleet inception policy, which ran from Nov. 29, 2022, through Nov. 29, 2023. Their son, Peter J. McColgan, was listed as a driver, while the policy covered Cheryl McColgan’s BMW and Peter’s Jeep.

Policy Changed After McColgan Obtained Other Insurance

On Jan. 19, 2024, an agent representing McColgan’s parents asked PURE to remove their son from the fleet inception policy because he had obtained coverage from another insurer.

Four days later, on Jan. 23, PURE modified the policy and removed McColgan. His parents received a corresponding reduction in their premium.

When the family renewed its policy for the Nov. 29, 2023, to Nov. 29, 2024, period, McColgan’s Jeep was no longer listed. Cheryl McColgan’s BMW was the sole vehicle covered under the policy, according to the lawsuit.

The policy carried liability limits of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence. Its terms state that PURE would pay damages for bodily injury or property damage for which an insured becomes legally responsible because of an automobile accident.

The central legal question now is whether those provisions can reach the 2025 crash involving McColgan.

McColgan Faces His Own Criminal Case

The insurance fight is unfolding alongside criminal proceedings against McColgan.

He was charged May 19 with two counts of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, roughly eight months after the crash and just 10 days after graduating from Marquette University.

The allegations later became more serious.

In August, prosecutors upgraded the charges to two counts of second-degree reckless homicide. A Milwaukee police officer said McColgan had sufficient time to stop before the collision.

Crash data cited in the case indicated McColgan was traveling 53 mph at the time of impact, with his foot pressing the accelerator all the way to the floor.

McColgan is scheduled to return to court Oct. 16.

As the criminal case moves forward, the marquette lacrosse crash insurance dispute puts another question before the courts — not who was responsible for the tragedy, but whether an insurer can be required to provide coverage for its aftermath.