Illinois Legislature Outsmarts Illinois Court of Appeals

Governor signs amendment to § 143.24d making arbitration of small auto property claims mandatory but not binding.   In 2013, Illinois enacted a new statute requiring the mandatory arbitration of collision subrogation claims involving less than $2,500. 215 I.L.C.S. § 5/143.24d. The new § 143.24d required mandatory, binding arbitration of smaller property subrogation cases between…

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7,540 Reasons To Include Your Insured’s Deductible In Your Subrogation Claim

Insured motorists are called upon every day to pay their deductibles in order for their carriers to cover the necessary repairs to their motor vehicles after accidents. Many carriers refuse to include those deductibles in the subrogated claims they make against the other motorists involved in accidents with their insureds. Because they are left on…

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District Of Columbia Plans To Limit Time For Compensation Carrier To File Subrogation Suit

On June 27, 2013, the Council of the District of Columbia enacted emergency and temporary legislation resulting in an amendment to § 32-1535 which narrows the window during which a workers’ compensation carrier has to file a third-party action. An injured employee had six months after accepting a workers’ compensation award in which to file…

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2nd Circuit Strips Fully-Insured Plans Of Preemption Of New York Anti-Subrogation Law

For the time being, trial lawyers are celebrating the recent 2nd Circuit decision in Wurtz v. Rawlings Co., LLC, 2014 WL 3746801 (2nd Cir. 2014), which on July 31st, held that a class action suit seeking to enjoin three defendants from seeking reimbursement of benefits paid under fully-insured health plans based on New York’s anti-subrogation…

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Recovery Of Allocated Loss Adjustment Expenses In Property Subrogation Cases: Subrogating For More Than Your Insured’s Property Damage

Property insurers along all lines could simplify their business practices and lower their overhead considerably by simply paying any and all property damages, claims, expenses, and consequential damages alleged to have been incurred by and in the amounts claimed by their insureds. Obviously, such a practice would be a shortcut to insolvency and would lead…

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Unpublished New Jersey Decision Calls Into Question Comp Carrier’s Subrogation Rights Against UM/UIM Benefits

A recent unpublished and quite puzzling decision from the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, threw decades of established New Jersey subrogation law into question when it announced that a workers’ compensation carrier has no subrogation/reimbursement rights on the medical portion of a third-party claim against an uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) carrier. The Court in Dever…

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Wisconsin Appellate Court Clarifies Subjective And Objective Intent Requirements In Intentional Act Exclusion

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently had occasion to address the issue of whether “subjective” and/or “objective” intent to cause injury must be found in the context of an intentional act exclusion. In Fetherstone v. Parks, ­2014 WI App. 2, the Court interpreted an American Family insurance policy to determine whether a showing of both…

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Did Wisconsin Just Adopt The Twombly And Iqbal Heightened Federal Pleading Standard?

On July 23, 2014, the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided Data Key Partners v. Permira Advisers LLC, 2014 WI 86. Remarkably, the decision appears to adopt the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007). According to the minority opinion, the Court adopted Twombly without it having been briefed…

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New Victories For Subrogation Against FDCPA Lawsuits

For nearly twenty years, the plaintiffs’ bar and negligent third parties have been trying to use the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) as a weapon against legitimate subrogation claims. While the fight continues, two recent federal district court decisions came down in favor of subrogation yet again. Both cases center on a third party’s…

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