Road to Recovery

Damage to Property Without Market Value

The amount and dollar value of insurance claims relating to property loss alone dwarf all other lines of insurance. Water losses in the U.S. result in more than $9 billion in property damage annually. Fire losses result in more than …

Governmental Immunity And The Code Of Pirates

In the 2003 Walt Disney blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Hector Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl are in a cavern trying to reverse their curse when Elizabeth invokes the right of …

Subrogating Against God: Recovering Claim Dollars When Natural Disasters Strike

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-occurring fire, the resulting losses can be enough …

If A Tree Falls In The Forest, Does The Subrogation Department Hear It?

During my first decade of practicing law in Texas, I enjoyed a good professional relationship with Texas Governor Greg Abbott. In those days, Abbott, who is my age and earned his law degree one year after me, was a young …

Commentary: The Failure of No-Fault Insurance

The Future Of Auto Insurance In No-Fault States In its widest sense, “no-fault insurance” is a term used to describe any auto insurance coverage under which policyholders are paid for personal injuries and property damage they sustain in accidents through …

Driverless Car Litigation: The World of George Jetson Has Arrived

Imagine beginning your day with a cup of coffee in the car on the way to work, watching the morning news from a holographic projection on the windshield while making notes in preparation for a 9:00 a.m. meeting. All this …

Subrogating Snowmageddon And Winter Roof Collapses

As someone whose childhood winter chores included shoveling the roof, I have an intimate familiarity with the concept of the potential for roof collapse from the weight of excessive snow and ice. Winter storms this season have produced all-time record …

The Parable of the Crippled Mare: Loss-Of-Use Now Recoverable in Texas Total Loss Auto Cases

Many years ago, a lawyer argued that the long-standing Texas rule prohibiting recovery of damages for loss of use of personal property, unless the property was a total loss or destroyed, was unfair. City of Canadian v. Guthrie, 87 S.W.2d …

Making Subrogation While the Hay Shines

Every year in North America insurers pay out tens of millions of claim dollars resulting from fires and feed damage caused by the spontaneous combustion and heating of hay mow – a pile of hay stored in or near a …

Where’s my Deductible?

A Survey of Laws Regarding Reimbursement of an Insured’s Deductible in all 50 States Most automobile insurance policies require their insured to pay a deductible when a claim is made. If the auto carrier is successful in subrogating a particular …

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