What you don’t know can’t help you. That is certainly the case in Iowa when plaintiff’s attorneys claim no obligation to reimburse a carrier exists based on a general assertion that the insured was not made whole. This objection overlooks the proper application of the made-whole doctrine to specific damage types as required under Iowa…
Davis v. Adeoye, 2022 WL 16570653 (Conn. Super. 2022) For years, trial lawyers have been threatening and filing class action lawsuits in multiple states in an effort to thwart their arch nemesis—subrogation. States such as Montana have gone so far as to hold that it is the burden of the subrogated insurance company to determine…
Hartford Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 2022 WL 17491301 (Va. 2022) When two insurance companies or an insurance company and an employer (self-insured for workers’ compensation) enter into Arbitration Forum’s “Special Arbitration Agreement”, the workers’ compensation carrier may proceed in binding arbitration under Arbitration Forum’s Special Arbitration Forum to seek reimbursement and subrogation…
Insurance subrogation professionals are routinely faced with minimum limits scenarios which complicate otherwise straightforward subrogation cases. When a third-party liability carrier’s insurance limits are insufficient to pay the claims of multiple claimants, the carrier must begin to assess the hierarchy of the claimants – how to slice the insured’s pie. In order to do this,…
Sheckler v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 2022 WL 17245548 (Ill. 2022). The ability of a landlord’s property insurer to subrogate against a tenant for property damage caused by the negligence of the tenant varies greatly from state to state and often hinges on the specific language of the lease involved. There are generally three different approaches:…
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…