Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage is mandatory in Pennsylvania. Due to Pennsylvania being an optional or “choice” no-fault state, insureds must choose between “full tort” and “limited tort” options, and PIP coverage must be provided. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Kentucky are the only states that have “choice” no-fault laws, also known as an optional modified…
Minnesota and Hawaii don’t have a lot in common. However, the Minnesota Court of Appeals – of all places – recently laid down some rather novel and earth-shattering law with regard to PIP subrogation in Hawaii. In American Family Mutual Ins. Co. v. American Automobile Ass’n d/b/a Auto Club Ins. Ass’n, 2013 WL 656493 (Minn.…
Robert Van Orden v. USAA, 2014 MT 45 (Mont. 2014) Montana has long been one of the toughest states to subrogate in because it has a very strict made whole policy. It is the public policy in Montana that an insured must be totally reimbursed for all losses as well as costs, including attorney fees…
Two Texas vehicle owners driving identical vehicles are involved in accidents caused by a negligent tortfeasor. Both contact their insurance company regarding their damaged vehicles. Both must wait for an appraiser to inspect the vehicle and write a report. One vehicle is repairable, the other is considered “totaled.” The owner of the vehicle being repaired…
As most subrogation professionals handling auto subrogation in Illinois know, Illinois Senate Bill signed into law effective January 1, 2012 changed subrogation in that state significantly. For the first time, Illinois mandated that in collision subrogation cases involving amounts less than $2,500, recently-enacted § 143.24d now required mandatory arbitration between all auto carriers. That development…
One of the more common misconceptions one hears in the realm of health and accident subrogation is that, when it comes to motor vehicle accidents, “there is no subrogation in Michigan.” No one can deny that the Michigan No-Fault Act presents an abundance of obstacles for a carrier looking to recover medical and wage loss…
When and whether a vehicle involved in a collision is considered to be “totaled” for first-party insurance purposes is an issue of great angst and confusion for most consumers. We hear horror stories about older, functioning automobiles being “totaled” simply because the frame is bent or other seemingly minor and hidden damage occurs. Even insurance…
Kubert v. Best and Colonna, Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division, Docket No. A-1128-12T4 FACTS Plaintiffs were seriously injured by an 18-year-old driver who was texting while driving and crossed the centerline of the road. The plaintiffs’ clams for compensation from the young driver had been settled and were no longer part of the…
In one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes[1], a frightened Kramer is lost and calls Jerry from a phone booth somewhere in Manhattan. Jerry asks him to look around for a street sign and Kramer responds with a touch of panic that he is at the intersection of 1st Street and 1st Avenue, concluding that he…
Effective subrogation requires a thorough understanding of some of the more confusing legal terms we must all work with. Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. has compiled a list of the various laws in every state dealing with whether the state is a contributory negligence state (bars recovery with only 1% of fault by the plaintiff)…