A new 2022 report reveals a massive spike in litigation involving insurance coverage and claims and advises insurance companies to “be prepared by increasing resources both in-house and outside counsel.” The report, entitled “Insurance Litigation Report” was issued Lex Machina, Silicon Valley-based SAAS company that helps lawyers pinpoint litigation trends. It includes an analysis of…
One day last month our firm received three separate, unrelated subrogation claim files involving serious personal injury, property damage, and a death resulting from tractor-trailers whose drivers had lost control after serving to avoid colliding with a deer on the highway. In two of the losses, the 18-wheelers overturned and were shortly thereafter struck by…
In addition to paying for medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, independent medical exam (IME) fees, expert fees, functional capacity evaluation charges, rehabilitation benefits, physician advisor fees, behavioral…
They refer to it simply as “The Storms of 98.” Fierce rains and high tides combined to make San Francisquito Creek overflow its banks at 1 a.m., inundating houses, cars and streets. Firefighters used boats to rescue people trapped in their homes and school buses took evacuees to the Cubberley Community Center for shelter in…
The devastation of Hurricane Ian reminds us that the opportunity for property subrogation success is often disguised as an Act of God. The claims history of most domestic insurance carriers is littered with billion dollar claims as a result of catastrophic losses caused by natural disasters. When God sends a hurricane, tornado, flood, or naturally…
We are in the early stages of sifting through the debris of Hurricane Ian and calculating the financial and human toll it took after coming ashore in Southwest Florida with 150 mph winds and 20 inches of rain. The insured losses expected to flow from this natural disaster are still being calculated, but estimates range…
As Hurricane Ian fades into the Atlantic and insurance professionals are left to sort out the devastation in its wake, another storm is rising, and it is not the type which causes damage to homes and vehicles. It causes damage of a much more insidious nature. Following a storm or other natural disaster, canvassers hired…
Until recently, Virginia courts had not applied or even discussed at length the equitable Made Whole Doctrine. Its application had been rejected in a 1998 unreported state circuit court ruling involving a self-funded medical reimbursement plan.[1] In the case of P.R.C., Inc. v. Jones Welding & Repair, Inc., Judge Jane Roush wrote: O’Bryan’s reliance on…
In addition to paying for medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, independent medical exam (IME) fees, expert fees, functional capacity evaluation charges, rehabilitation benefits, physician advisor fees, behavioral…
Flooding is the number one natural peril in the U.S.—even more devastating than wildfires and storms. Since 2011, there have been over $100 billion in insured losses from flood events around the globe. Over the past three decades, Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. has been on the forefront of subrogating catastrophic flooding and other natural…