|
|
|
|
Maine - Automobile Insurance Subrogation: In All 50 States
Pages:
ISBN:
Published On:
Updated On:
6758
DwnLdItem
PDF Chapter
Have a question? Email us about this product!
Available Format
|
Additional Information |
Originally from: Automobile Insurance Subrogation: In All 50 States - Hardcover Automobile Insurance Subrogation: In All 50 States - Electronic
Preview Page § 4.20 MAINE § 4.20[1] Subrogation Rights The State of Maine recognizes both contractual and equitable
rights of subrogation.1 Despite this, Maine holds that equitable
subrogation is not available where a person pays a debt in
performance of his own obligation, as that person is the primary
obligor.2 For example, because medical Plans are agreements in
which the insurer has undertaken the primary obligation to pay
medical expenses for a fee, a health insurer is not entitled to
equitable subrogation.3 Therefore, unless a health insurer includes
subrogation language in the Plan or policy, it may not subrogate.4
This limitation on equitable subrogation has not been applied to
automobile insurance subrogation.
An insurer who pays a loss for which another is responsible, either
by statute or at common law, is subrogated to any claim that the
insured has against the person whose tortious act caused the injury or
damage.5
Rule 17 of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure affects subrogation
actions and provides as follows:
Rule 17. Parties Plaintiff and Defendant; Capacity.
(a) Real Party in Interest. Every action shall be prosecuted
in the name of the real party in interest. An executor,
administrator, guardian, bailee, trustee of an express trust, a
party with whom or in whose name a contract has been made
for the benefit of another, or a party authorized by statute
may sue in that person’s own name without joining the party
for whose benefit the action is brought; and when a statute
so provides, an action for the use or benefit of another shall
be brought in the name of the State of Maine. An insurer who
has paid all or part of a loss may sue in the name of the
assured to whose rights it is subrogated. No action shall be
dismissed on the ground that it is not prosecuted in the name
of the real party in interest until a reasonable time has been
allowed after objection for ratification of commencement of
the action by, or joinder or substitution of, the real party in
interest; and such ratification, joinder, or substitution shall
have the same effect as if the action had been commenced in
the name of the real party in interest. When in proceedings in
the nature of quo warranto the title to office in a private
corporation is involved, the action may be brought in the
name of the interested party and the Attorney General need
not be a party thereto.
***
(c) Subrogated Insurance Claims. No claim or counterclaim
shall be asserted on behalf of an insurer in the name of the
assured for damages resulting from alleged acts of
negligence, claimed by right of subrogation or assignment,
unless at least Ten (10) days prior to asserting such claim
the insurer gives notice in writing to the assured of its
intention to do so. Such notice shall be served in the manner
provided for service of summons in Rule 4 or by registered
or certified mail, return receipt requested, with instructions
to deliver to addressee only. There shall be attached to the
pleading asserting such subrogation claim a copy of the
notice together with either the return of the person making
the service or the return receipt. An assured or any party
suing in an assured’s right who desires to assert a claim
arising out of the same transaction or occurrence shall notify
the insurer or its attorney in writing within ten (10) days
after receipt of such notice.6
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
