| Insurer's Right to Subrogation |
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| When one person pays to another person an amount due to the second person by a third person, the first person has a right to recover from the third person the amount paid to the second person. This right of payment is called a subrogation. Subrogation is a doctrine of equity. It is the substitution of the first person in the place of the second person, who had a claim upon the third person. When an insurance company pays its insured for a loss under an insurance policy that was caused by a third party, the insurance company acquires the right of subrogation against the third party. More... |
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| Motor Vehicle Insurer's Right to Reimbursement of Indemnity Payments |
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| The obligations of insurers to make payments under policies of motor vehicle insurance are based on the sometimes uncertain answers to questions about the extent of coverage and the liability of an insured to a party making a claim under the policy. An insurer may therefore face a difficult decision as to whether to make a payment in response to a third party's demand for such payment under a policy, risking the possibility that the payment is uncalled for in light of some limitation in the coverage, or to deny such a request and risk a claim that the insurer's failure to make the requested payment has made it liable to an insured for additional damages, such as the amount of a judgment in excess of the policy limits. More... |
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| Contingency Fee Arrangements in Auto Accident Cases |
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| When a person, who is injured in an automobile accident, needs an attorney to file a lawsuit against those who caused the person's injuries, the attorney's fees could prevent the injured person from proceeding. Most injured persons cannot afford to pay an attorney's hourly fee to bring a lawsuit to recover damages that could include medical expenses, lost wages, pain, future medical needs, and other expenses. To make litigation affordable for an injured person, attorneys in automobile accident cases do not charge an hourly rate or a fixed amount for legal fees. Instead, the attorney and injured person agree that the attorney's fee will be determined by the amount of the settlement awarded to the client. This is called a contingency fee arrangement. More... |
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| Overview of Automotive Products Liability Law |
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| The everyday operation of millions of cars and trucks on the streets and highways of the United States, and the massive resulting toll in deaths, personal injuries, and property damage caused by motor vehicle accidents, have inevitably created a situation in which the manufacturers and sellers of motor vehicles are implicated as potential defendants in legal actions seeking compensation for the losses arising from such accidents. Products liability law, a subset of the branch of the legal system called tort law, provides the legal standards for determining the potential liability of motor vehicle manufacturers and their dealers in such cases. (The principles of products liability law also apply to non-automotive products, but our discussion here will focus on the law of products liability as it relates to motor vehicles.) More... |
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| Underinsured/Uninsured Motorists' Consent to Settle |
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| Underinsured motorist and uninsured motorist provisions in many auto insurance policies contain clauses that exclude coverage if the insured, without the consent of the insurer, makes a settlement with or obtains a judgment against an uninsured or underinsured motorist who is liable for the damages caused by an accident. These clauses, which are called consent to settle, consent to settlement, or consent to action clauses, are included in the policy because the interests of an insured, who may hope to obtain a quick settlement with an uninsured or underinsured motorist and may be less concerned about the size of the settlement, often differ from the interests of his or her insurer, which hopes to recover from the liable party every possible dollar of the amounts it is required to pay out under its policy. More... |
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