Texas Creates New Statute of Repose for Residential Construction Claims

For almost five decades Texas has had a single statute of repose which imposed a ten (10) year period for claims against architects, engineers, interior designers, landscape architects, builders, and construction contractors.[1]  Texas has imposed a ten-year statute of repose on suits against builders or contractors who construct or repair improvements to real property.  It…

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Workers' Comp

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW; SOMEONE BORROWED, SOMEONE TO SUE

Workers’ Compensation Subrogation and Employee Leasing Companies At its core, workers’ compensation subrogation is quite simple. Employee injured while at work receives workers compensation benefits. Carrier paying benefits recovers those benefits from anyone responsible for causing the injury other than the employer. As the saying goes, however, “Progress is man’s ability to complicate the simple.”…

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Subrogating Pedestrian Accidents

Claims Journal recently reported on a new Ohio State University study which examines who is at fault when cars hit pedestrians shows that vehicle/pedestrian accidents occur much more frequently in certain environments than in others. The study showed that pedestrians were much more likely to be at fault when there was a high volume of…

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5TH CIRCUIT SAYS NO SUCH THING AS AN UNDERINSURED VEHICLE WHEN IT COMES TO DIMINUTION IN VALUE PROPERTY CLAIMS IN MISSISSIPPI: Watkins v. Allstate Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 2024 WL 135458 (5th Cir. 2024)

A recent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision interpreting Mississippi insurance law has ruled that an automobile insurance carrier can exclude diminished value claims from its underinsured motorist coverage. In Watkins v. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Kimberly Jones (insured by Safeway Insurance Company) negligently crashed into a vehicle driven by Kenan Watkins (insured…

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OHIO SUPREME COURT SAYS THAT MEDICAL MALPRACTICE STATUTE OF REPOSE APPLIES TO WRONGFUL DEATH AND DERIVATIVE CLAIMS: Everhart v. Coshocton County Memorial Hospital, 2023 WL 8939848 (Ohio Dec. 28, 2023)

In Ohio, while the usual statute of limitations for both personal injury and property damage is two (2) years, § 2305.113 provides that an action for medical malpractice must in all cases be filed within four (4) years from the date that the medical negligence occurred. If the basis of the claim is discovered in…

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Magnify House

PENNSYLVANIA SUPERIOR COURT WILL RECONSIDER ITS OWN DECISION ON LANDLORD/TENANT SUBROGATION: Mut. Benefit Ins. Co. v. Koser, 2023 WL 8360563 (Pa. Super. 2023), reargument granted, opinion withdrawn, 2024 WL 174472 (Pa. Super. Jan. 17, 2024)

Subrogation professionals are seeing more and more cases involving a landlord’s carrier wanting to subrogate against a negligent tenant who caused damage to the leased premises. The ability of a landlord’s property insurer to subrogate against a tenant for property damage caused by the negligence of the tenant depends on which state the loss occurs…

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TIMELINESS OF PROPERTY SUBROGATION SUITS IN LOUISIANA: A Back Door Around Prescription

Louisiana, with its short one-year tort statute of limitations (in Louisiana called prescription), catches many insurance subrogation professionals unaware. Some may assume that because suit was filed by another party involved in the accident or even by their own insured, the property subrogation claim will relate back to the time of filing of the original…

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workers' compensation

Workers’ Compensation and the Intentional Act Exception to the Exclusive Remedy Rule

The quid pro quo premise underlying the social compromise known as workers’ compensation is simple: an employee injured at work receives no-fault medical expenses and wage replacement indemnity benefits and, in exchange, the employer is given protection from employee lawsuits and a statutory right to be reimbursed from the tortfeasor who actually caused the work-related injury –…

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Statutes of Repose

Understanding The Difference Between Statutes of Limitations and Statutes of Repose

Subrogation professionals, like lawyers, must be constantly vigilant for deadlines, statutes of limitations, statutes of repose, and notice timelines which are set forth by the laws of the 50 states. Likewise, it is important to know and understand the differences between statutes of limitations and statutes of repose. They are both subrogation-killers. Statutes of limitations…

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