Beginning July 1, 2018, Maryland auto insurers issuing new policies will be required to offer enhanced underinsured motorist (“EUIM”) coverage in place of the uninsured motorist (“UM”) coverage required under § 19-509. Md. Code Ins. § 19-501.1(d). Unlike UM coverage, EUIM coverage prohibits the carrier from reducing the coverage amount by any applicable liability insurance paid…
There is seemingly no end to the attacks on a workers’ compensation carrier’s rights of subrogation and reimbursement when a third-party is liable for a work-related injury. In New Jersey, however, the Supreme Court will soon be deciding whether even the employee is prohibited from suing a customer of his employer, when forced to sign a…
On September 26, 2017, a truck spilled thousands of roofing nails on Interstate 10 in Metairie, Louisiana (a suburb of New Orleans). Hundreds of vehicles rolled over the nails and sustained punctured tires, resulting in replacement of tires that may total as much as $1,000 per vehicle. The Louisiana State Police cited the driver for failing…
According to a 1999 study commissioned by the Alliance of American Insurers (AAI), if you were to build a $25,000 vehicle using only Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts, it would cost you over $100,000. When repairing vehicles damaged in accidents, insurance companies argue that the use of look-alike, aftermarket (non-OEM) generic crash parts significantly contributes…
Mandatory Arbitration of Auto Physical Damage Claims Now a Thing Of The Past The game of musical chairs regarding the Illinois law that requires mandatory arbitration of auto physical damage subrogation claims is finally over. The music has stopped and the statute has been repealed. The needless expense and waste of time associated with the…
Almost any time money changes hands in America, there are tax issues. The Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) is over 75,000 pages long, and contains fives times as many words as the Bible. The federal tax rules and resources within the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter exceed 75,000 pages, enough to fill a small library. More daunting…
The Iowa legislature has finally acted on the call by Iowa business groups to overhaul Iowa’s workers’ compensation system. For years, they have claimed that the state’s system has tilted unfairly toward injured workers and significantly raised employers’ costs. Many have called Iowa’s workers’ compensation system an “unsustainable litigious lottery.” In March, the changes became…
In May 2016, we published an article listing the ten best and the ten worst states for subrogating workers’ compensation. Arizona was near the top because it didn’t allow reduction of the carrier’s lien for attorneys’ fees and provided for reimbursement of the carrier “off the top” of a third-party recovery. It didn’t make the…
Subrogation professionals must become familiar with an increasingly used defense in the litigation of auto insurance subrogation cases. Even if the insured is totally free from fault in the operation of the insured’s auto, not wearing a seat belt could result in a reduction of the damages the insured and/or subrogated auto carrier will be…
As if the tragedy and destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey in the Houston and Gulf Coast region wasn’t bad enough, a few opportunistic trial lawyers and public adjusters have taken to social media urging Houston homeowners to file their insurance claims by September 1 in order to avoid the “consequences” of a newly passed Texas…