Delays in Referring File to Subrogation Counsel Can Be Expensive. The moment you know a lawsuit has been filed by an insured or an injured employee, the fuse is lit. Many states have short statutes that eliminate or significantly reduce your recovery rights if timely action is not taken. In Colorado, failure to intervene means automatic reduction of your lien by more than one-third. In Connecticut, the fuse is thirty days, after which you lose your entire subrogation interest. Similar land mines exist in Iowa and many other states.

Extinguishing Third-Party Liability as a Prerequisite to Contribution. The absence of a simple sentence in a release signed by the claimant after settling a liability claim is costing liability carriers millions of dollars in contribution recoveries across the country. By the time they are discovering the mistake, it is too late.

When multiple insurers provide coverage for a single loss or accident, things can get confusing. Coinsurance can arise as a result of conscious risk-sharing or accidentally when two policies have overlapping coverage. Litigation involving who pays what, when, and in what order has become a cottage industry involving both subrogation and contribution. Understanding all concepts and applying them to the facts of a claim or loss is enough to make your head explode.

On February 29, 2018, the Wisconsin Legislature amended § 102.29 in several places, clarifying that a leased or loaned employee who “has the right to make a claim for compensation” is barred from filing a third-party lawsuit. The law is effective as of March 2, 2018 and applies to workers’ compensation claims made or civil tort claims filed on or after that date.

Gary Wickert and Jim Busenlener will be providing a complimentary webinar on Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation on April 11, 2018 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. (CDT). For more information or to register for this webinar, click HERE.