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Florida - Automobile Insurance Subrogation: In All 50 States
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Originally from: Automobile Insurance Subrogation: In All 50 States - Hardcover Automobile Insurance Subrogation: In All 50 States - Electronic
Preview Page § 4.10 FLORIDA
§ 4.10[1] Subrogation Rights
Florida strongly supports the subrogation rights of automobile
insurers. A contractual right of subrogation is recognized,1 as is an
equitable right of subrogation.2 After an insurance company has paid
a loss on behalf of its insured, it is entitled to subrogation either by
express contract rights or by equitable subrogation by operation of
law.3
It should be noted that even though Florida allows enforcement of
a auto carrier’s subrogation or reimbursement provisions, the auto
carrier will not automatically be allowed to intervene in every case.4
Whether or not a party may intervene is left to the discretion of the
trial judge. Ultimately, whether or not a Plan can intervene and
protect its interests will be determined by the specific facts of the
case and whether or not the court has taken efforts to safeguard the
subrogation rights of the carrier.5 However, at least one court has
held that where a subrogated carrier was deprived of the right to
participate in a hearing in which a settlement was judicially
approved, the carrier was deprived of due process and actually had a
right to intervene into its insured’s third-party action against the
tortfeasor in order to assert its statutory right of reimbursement and
to be heard before the proceeds of the settlement were distributed.6
§ 4.10[2] Automobile Insurance Coverage
Florida is one of only two states that does not require bodily injury
liability automobile insurance. The other is New Hampshire.
Wisconsin was the third, but as of 2010, it now requires liability
insurance. Florida does, however, require bodily injury liability
insurance if the driver has been found guilty of driving under the
influence.7 If a person was convicted on or before October 1, 2007,
the minimum bodily injury liability requirement is $10,000 per
person and $20,000 per incident. If the person was convicted after
October 1, 2007, the minimum required is $100,000 per person and
$300,000 per accident. For such an individual, bodily injury liability
coverage is mandated for a period of three (3) years after the return
of one’s driving privileges.8
Gary Wickert is an insurance trial lawyer and is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on insurance subrogation. He is also the author of several subrogation books and legal treatises and is a national and international speaker and lecturer on subrogation and motivational topics. After 15 years as the youngest managing partner in the history of the 30-lawyer Houston law firm of Hughes, Watters & Askanase, L.L.P., Mr. Wickert returned to his native Wisconsin in 1998 and co-founded the subrogation firm of Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. He oversees a National Recovery Program which includes a network of nearly 285 contracted subrogation law firms in all 50 states, Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom and boasts recoveries of more than $500 million in recoveries and credits for more than 200 insurance companies. Licensed in both Texas and Wisconsin, Mr. Wickert is double board-certified in both personal injury law and civil trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is also certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, for whom he has both written and graded the product liability questions contained on the NBTA national certification exam taken by trial lawyers around the country. For 25 years, Mr. Wickert has served as an expert witness and insurance consultant on subrogation and insurance related issues and has been consulted by insurance carriers, lawyers, and legislative bodies from several states. He is a licensed arbitrator and has attended more than 750 mediations in more than 30 different states. He has represented subrogated insurance carriers in every state, and has been admitted pro hac vice in 17 states. Gary Wickert has worked with the Texas Legislative Oversight Committee in rewriting their workers' compensation subrogation statutes, has served on the Board of the National Association of Subrogation Professionals, and has been cited as an authority on workers' compensation subrogation by several appellate courts, including the Texas Court of Appeals. He is one of only a few lawyers to have ever represented a subrogated carrier before the United States Supreme Court, and was named as one of Law & Politics magazine's "Super Lawyers" for 2005, 2006, and 2007.
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