Gary Wickert News

Subrogating Condominium Damage

Imagine opening the door to your condominium (“condo”) only to be confronted by several inches of standing water. The first call is to your insurance company, which must then consider not only mitigating, adjusting and paying the claim, but subrogating …

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: But It Could Cost You Much More

When dealing with photographs taken of other people, prudence requires that we consider the legal rights of the subject and the ethics of publishing the photo without their permission. Since the advent of digital photography, photographs have played a big …

Where’s the Paint? Subrogating Paint Overspray Claims

More than 1,000 vehicles a day are damaged by paint overspray in the United States, resulting in more than one-half of a billion dollars in damage and insurance claims annually. Airborne paint overspray results from all sorts of industrial, commercial, …

Subrogating Court-Ordered Criminal Restitution

The recent riots in Ferguson, Miss., have resulted in property damage in excess of $5 million, and the total is climbing. However, these riots don’t even come close to the $1.2 billion in damages during the costliest civil disorder in …

Indiana Announces Subrogation-Friendly Rule

When Landlord’s Carrier Seeks Recovery Against Negligent Tenant An Indiana Court of Appeals decision issued on October 28, 2014 changes the landscape of landlord/tenant subrogation in the Hoosier State. For years, Indiana allowed an insurer to bring a subrogation claim …

7,540 Reasons to Include Your Insured’s Deductible in Your Subrogation Claim

Insured motorists are called upon every day to pay their deductibles in order for their carriers to cover the necessary repairs to their motor vehicles after accidents. Many carriers refuse to include those deductibles in the subrogated claims they make …

Fed to Require Speed Limiters on Trucks

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is about to mandate the use of speed limiters – also known as Electronic Control Modules (ECM) – on certain trucks traveling U.S. highways. The department’s March 2014 “Report of Significant Rulemaking” states that this …

You Break It, You Buy It: Understanding Anti-Indemnity Statutes

The song we learn in our youth is the song we sing for life. Children often blame others for their mistakes and misdeeds – a desperate effort to shift responsibility and avoid unpleasant consequences. As adults engaging in commerce, we …

Slumlord Subrogation: Subrogating Landlord/Tenant Property Losses

In the 2003 Miramax comedy Duplex, Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore are Brooklyn landlords to a pesky, rent-controlled tenant named Mrs. Connelly, played by Eileen Essell. Efforts to get rid of Connelly fail and the tenant’s careless actions cause a …

Liability for Allowing Drunk Driving: The Death of Personal Responsibility?

It used to be that friends wouldn’t let friends drive drunk because they cared about their friends. Today, it’s become a legal obligation. In the 1998 Seinfeld series finale, Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer witness a car-jacking and rather than …