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Suspension of Driver Licenses - Chapter 5 - 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 CHAPTER 5
SUSPENSION OF DRIVER LICENSES
§ 5.01 Generally
Subrogating against uninsured drivers is one of the less glamorous
aspects of automobile insurance subrogation. It is the red-haired stepchild
of the red-haired step-child, and could easily be featured on the
Discovery Channel series, Dirty Jobs. However, it can be a lucrative
and rewarding subrogation endeavor if handled appropriately and in
volume.
The idiom, "you can't squeeze blood from a turnip," is a reference
to the fact that you cannot squeeze from someone something they
don't have, especially money. However, in today's debtor-protecting
legal environment, it isn't so much that the debtor doesn't have
money--it's that he doesn't have money that you are able to access.
One of the subrogation industry's strongest and most effective
collection tools is the ability to have a debtor's driver's license
suspended when they are involved in a damage-causing automobile
accident while not being properly insured. In the final analysis, it's
all a matter of what the debtor wants to avoid more--paying a
damage claim, even if in installments, or the freedom to drive an
automobile. This chapter focuses on the legal remedies available to
subrogation professionals to effectuate this powerful collection tool.
With every passing year, especially in bad economies, it is more
important than ever to take advantage of every collection tool at your
disposal. Across the United States, if someone is injured in an auto
accident, the chances are about one in seven that the at-fault driver is
uninsured. According to a recent Insurance Research Council (IRC)
study, the estimated percentage of uninsured motorists (UM)
increased nationally from 12.7% in 1999 to 14.6% in 2004. The
information for each state's percentage of uninsured drivers out of
the overall driving population is contained in individual state
chapters contained in Chapter 4. However, the five states with the
lowest uninsured driver estimates were Maine (4%), Vermont (6%),
Massachusetts (6%), New York (7%), and Nebraska (8%). The
highest are Mississippi (26%), Alabama (25%), and California
(25%). Until recently, only New Hampshire and Wisconsin did not
require bodily injury liability insurance. Wisconsin's recent
legislation changed that, so New Hampshire stands alone. Florida
does not require bodily injury liability insurance but does require
property liability insurance.
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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