Another insurance question re: subro

[Anonymous]

Can anyone help with a subro question? What if the two parties involved in an accident are insured by the same insurance company? Does the ins co then say "oops, sorry contributory negligence..." instead of subrogating? How does this work?

[Anonymous]

It's unlikely to affect the liability analysis, and may result in the parties getting their money/repairs sooner. As to basic damages they would pay out without litigation, the insurance company doesn't have to fight about liability because it's going to come out of their pocket either way, other than applicable deductibles. They'll assign liability based on their review of the file, pay the claims, and then the insureds will get dinged based on how much liability is assigned to them. The insurer could theoretically game the system to try to get more deducible money, but overall it's generally not worth it to them to do so.

If one insured ends up suing the other, the insurance company's assessment of liability is wholly irrelevant to the legal proceeding.

[Anonymous]

Insurance attorney here.

Each insured will have a separate adjuster assigned to act in their respective insured’s best interest. They will have a screen to prevent sharing of info. They will treat it at arms length. Each adjuster should do an independent liability assessment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's unlikely to affect the liability analysis, and may result in the parties getting their money/repairs sooner. As to basic damages they would pay out without litigation, the insurance company doesn't have to fight about liability because it's going to come out of their pocket either way, other than applicable deductibles. They'll assign liability based on their review of the file, pay the claims, and then the insureds will get dinged based on how much liability is assigned to them. The insurer could theoretically game the system to try to get more deducible money, but overall it's generally not worth it to them to do so.

If one insured ends up suing the other, the insurance company's assessment of liability is wholly irrelevant to the legal proceeding.

Is it worth one insured suing another for the deductible ie: small claims court? Asking bc the ins co is saying that comparative negligence applies (ie the person less at fault can still be 1% at fault) - does that impede any court proceeding? Is there any drawback to bringing the other party to court? The other party is good and practiced at dodging the truth, so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's unlikely to affect the liability analysis, and may result in the parties getting their money/repairs sooner. As to basic damages they would pay out without litigation, the insurance company doesn't have to fight about liability because it's going to come out of their pocket either way, other than applicable deductibles. They'll assign liability based on their review of the file, pay the claims, and then the insureds will get dinged based on how much liability is assigned to them. The insurer could theoretically game the system to try to get more deducible money, but overall it's generally not worth it to them to do so.

If one insured ends up suing the other, the insurance company's assessment of liability is wholly irrelevant to the legal proceeding.

Is it worth one insured suing another for the deductible ie: small claims court? Asking bc the ins co is saying that comparative negligence applies (ie the person less at fault can still be 1% at fault) - does that impede any court proceeding? Is there any drawback to bringing the other party to court? The other party is good and practiced at dodging the truth, so far.

No one can answer those questions without knowing what happened.

[Anonymous]

If it is a contributory negligence state, even if you are 1% at fault, you can’t recover. Small claims judge will apply the law. You can try to recover in small claims court to get your deductible but after filing fees and your time, will it be worth it even if you win?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it is a contributory negligence state, even if you are 1% at fault, you can’t recover. Small claims judge will apply the law. You can try to recover in small claims court to get your deductible but after filing fees and your time, will it be worth it even if you win?

OP here, this is my question - but if I win, yes, it will totally be worth it. I may be trying to get blood from a stone, however. Like I said, the other party is extremely practiced at lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it is a contributory negligence state, even if you are 1% at fault, you can’t recover. Small claims judge will apply the law. You can try to recover in small claims court to get your deductible but after filing fees and your time, will it be worth it even if you win?

OP here, this is my question - but if I win, yes, it will totally be worth it. I may be trying to get blood from a stone, however. Like I said, the other party is extremely practiced at lying.

It must be a pretty big deductible - filing fees can run up to $100 plus the cost of your time. And, if you can’t collect from the liable party, then your efforts are futile.

[Anonymous]

They can still subro but if it’s a word vs word situation no one will win. If your adjuster thinks you have a good case they can send it to arbitration and that will be evaluated by someone else in the insurance industry that doesn’t work for either company. This is for property same only by the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it is a contributory negligence state, even if you are 1% at fault, you can’t recover. Small claims judge will apply the law. You can try to recover in small claims court to get your deductible but after filing fees and your time, will it be worth it even if you win?

OP here, this is my question - but if I win, yes, it will totally be worth it. I may be trying to get blood from a stone, however. Like I said, the other party is extremely practiced at lying.

It must be a pretty big deductible - filing fees can run up to $100 plus the cost of your time. And, if you can’t collect from the liable party, then your efforts are futile.

Same insurance company, is the problem, I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They can still subro but if it’s a word vs word situation no one will win. If your adjuster thinks you have a good case they can send it to arbitration and that will be evaluated by someone else in the insurance industry that doesn’t work for either company. This is for property same only by the way.

So I used to be an arbitration person and this is how it worked - BUT you should know that (another state) used a insurance rep from the company to help decide, along with the state arbitration rep. OP here. Does NVA have arbitration? Can you make the insurance company go that route?