Roof

RCV, ACV and the Depreciation of Labor

Trial lawyers are filing bad faith class action suits against insurance companies across the country in rapid fashion based on alleged wrongful depreciation of labor costs in their calculation of Actual Cash Value (ACV) in property loss claims. They smell blood in the water given the turmoil and lack of clear guidance from state to…

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South Carolina Supreme Court

South Carolina Supreme Court Says Passenger/Employee May Not Recover UM Benefits From Driver/Co-Worker Auto Carrier

Connelly v. Main St. Am. Group, 2023 WL 152540 (S.C. 2023) South Carolina’s Exclusive Remedy Rule has prevented an employee from collecting $350,000 in uninsured motorist benefits for injuries she sustained in an automobile accident she was in while a passenger in a vehicle owned and driven by a co-employee. Stephany Connelly and a co-worker…

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Washington

Washington Court Allows Recovery for Residual Diminished Value Following Vehicle Repairs

Grothe v. Kushnivich, 521 P.3d 228 (Wash. App. 2022) One by one, states have begun to recognize a vehicle owner’s third-party claim for residual diminished value damage, or “stigma damage”, which is the loss of value of an automobile that remains after it is completely and professionally repaired. It is the loss of value that…

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Dog Fright

Subrogating “Dog Fright” Cases

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” — Mark Twain One insurance company – State Farm – has referred to dog bites as a “serious public health problem.” In 2018 alone, one carrier paid $90 million in claims on roughly 3,500 dog bite incidents. According…

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Gig Economy

Subrogation and the Gig Industry: Workers’ Compensation Subrogation, PEO, and Employee Leasing Companies

A huge segment of America’s service economy involves flexible, temporary, part-time, or freelance jobs—frequently involving professional employer organizations (PEO’s) or employee leasing companies. The “gig economy” is the labor market that relies on temporary and part-time positions filled by independent contractors, leased employees, and freelancers, rather than full-time permanent employees. Threading the needle of workers’…

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Oklahoma Court of Appeals

Oklahoma Court of Appeals Rules That Workers’ Compensation Carrier Can Subrogate Death Benefits

Amy Alexander, et al. v. Nam Duong and Sentinel Insurance Company, Case No. 120,320 (Okla. App. December 2, 2022) Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation laws have endured a long and tortured constitutional tug-of-war between trial lawyers and business advocates/subrogation professionals. In 2011, Oklahoma completely overhauled its workers’ compensation laws, entitling the new legislation the “Workers’ Compensation Code.”[1]…

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