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Automobile Insurance Subrogation: In All 50 States - Hardcover
Automobile Insurance Subrogation: In All 50 States - Electronic
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§ 4.15 INDIANA
§ 4.15[1] Subrogation Rights
Indiana recognizes and allows equitable subrogation,1 as well as a
contractual subrogation.2 Health insurance Plans may enforce the
terms of their subrogation or reimbursement provisions.3 However,
an insurer as subrogee of some but not all of its insured’s personal
injury claims may not sue independently to enforce the subrogated
claim prior to resolution of its insured's remaining claims, in the
absence of an agreement with its insured granting explicit and
unequivocal authority to initiate a lawsuit that selects a single forum
for resolution of both the insured’s and insurer’s claims.4
A health Plan is entitled to enforce reimbursement terms of the
Plan, seeking reimbursement from the Plan beneficiary after a thirdparty
settlement, provided that the Plan language provides for such
reimbursement rights.5 To permit the Plan beneficiary to receive the
benefits from the Plan as well as the recovery from the tortfeasor
would entitle him to a double recovery, which is not permitted.6
Indiana also has various statutes which complicate insurance
subrogation. Indiana Code § 34-53-1-1 applies to any insurer
claiming subrogation or reimbursement rights to the proceeds of a
settlement or judgment resulting from a legal proceeding commenced
by an insured against a third party legally responsible for personal
injury for which payment is made by the insurer.7 It provides as
follows:
§ 34-53-1-1 Applicability of chapter.
Sec.1. This chapter applies to an insurer claiming
subrogation or reimbursement rights to the proceeds of a
settlement or judgment resulting from a legal proceeding
commenced by an insured against a third party legally
responsible for personal injury for which payment is made
by the insurer.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.
