Little by little, Alabama is letting out the line when it comes to who can recovery loss of use damages after an automobile has been in an accident. In addition to the other damages recoverable, loss of use (reasonable value of use or rental of a car while the owner is deprived of use of…
Every day we see evidence of the continuing evolution of subrogation law across our country. In many respects, we are still pioneers in this industry, as subrogation wasn’t pursued, respected, or sought after for many years, leaving many areas in our industry undecided by the courts and simply unknown. A good example of this is…
We are still years away from full implementation of true self-driving cars in the U.S., but each step we take dramatically complicates and changes the face of auto claims handling, vehicle repairs, and subrogation litigation. When catastrophic claims are paid as a result of a traffic accident resulting from a failure of an automated driving…
If you are a subrogation professional sending out demand letters and attempting to recover property damage, medical payments, or PIP benefits from a tortfeasor who is obviously at fault in an automobile collision, your worldview is one in which 50% of vehicle brakes in America are seemingly defective. It isn’t possible to go a week,…
A few years ago, a contractor working near MWL’s Santa Ana, California office was spraying a structure with epoxy primer, one of the hardest paints to remove. Nearby and downwind of the construction area was an auto auction facility getting ready for the weekend’s auction. The lot contained 752 new and used vehicles. Wind coming…
A recent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision interpreting Mississippi insurance law has ruled that an automobile insurance carrier can exclude diminished value claims from its underinsured motorist coverage. In Watkins v. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Kimberly Jones (insured by Safeway Insurance Company) negligently crashed into a vehicle driven by Kenan Watkins (insured…
Auto subrogation and car dealerships are no strangers to one another. Car dealerships and their insurers routinely seek to hold vehicle test drivers, customers, and other permissive users liable for physical damage to the dealers’ courtesy and rental vehicles and as well as for damages to third parties resulting from the negligent operation of dealership…
When an automobile is damaged in an accident and then repaired, the resale value may be less than a comparable automobile that has not been damaged. In other words, the damage results in a reduction or “diminution” in the resale value of the automobile. An insured’s claim for this reduction in value may be made…
One of the most heavily contested types of subrogation cases we encounter involves recovery of the reasonable cost of repairs performed in-house by a commercial fleet, trucking company, auto dealership, or rental car company whose vehicle has been damaged due to the negligence of a negligent third party. The liability carrier for the tortfeasor frequently…
Insurance policy deductibles and subrogation make strange bedfellows. Most property and automobile insurance policies require that the insured pay a deductible—an out-of-pocket payment the insured is required to pay toward a covered loss before the insurance company kicks in with its own claim dollars. Some policies allow the insured to select a deductible, with the…