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Texas - 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 § 4.44 TEXAS § 4.44[1] Subrogation Rights Texas recognizes both equitable and contractual subrogation.1
"Equitable subrogation"2 arises as a result of the equities between the
parties and is awarded as a matter of equity, not by right.3
"Contractual subrogation"4 arises by virtue of an agreement between
the parties and is awarded under that agreement. It is usually, but not
always, subject to the dictates of equity.5 Under contractual
subrogation, which is governed by the terms of the insurance policy,
no balancing of equities is required in order to determine whether an
insurer has a right to recover at all.6 However, while the insurance
contract providing expressly for subrogation may be able to remove
from the realm of equity the question of whether the insurer has a
right to subrogation, it cannot answer the question of whether an
insurer is actually entitled to subrogation or how much it should
receive.7 Therefore, Texas is guilty of blurring the fundamental
distinction between equitable and contractual subrogation.
Texas appears to allow a right of reimbursement under an
insurance policy which contains appropriate reimbursement
language.8 Such a right of reimbursement, allowed from an insured
that has been fully compensated by the tortfeasor, is not barred
because of a mere failure to intervene into the insured’s action
against a tortfeasor.
§ 4.44[2] Automobile Insurance Coverage
In Texas, a person may not operate a motor vehicle unless
financial responsibility is established through an insurance policy,
surety bond,9 a deposit,10 or self-insurance under § 601.124.11
Liability Insurance Coverage. Minimum amounts of liability
insurance coverage are required as follows:
Effective April 1, 2008, $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of
one person, $50,000 for bodily injury of death of two or more person
in any one accident, and $25,000 for damage to or destruction of
property of others in one accident; and
Effective January 1, 2011, $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of
one person, $60,000 for bodily injury of death of two or more person
in any one accident, and $25,000 for damage to or destruction of
property of others in one accident.12
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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