Description
An insured is entitled to be made whole, which means, generally, being paid all legally recognized and recoverable damages for the injury or loss sustained, a somewhat illusive standard. After paying a claim, the insurer will often seek to recover from a responsible third party through subrogation. In a common scenario, the "made whole" number is less than the amount the policyholder is paid by its insurer, and then the insured and insurer litigate their rights and priorities in the funds recovered by the insurer.
Sometimes, however, the insured, not the insurer, is able to recover from a third party. The question arises of whether the insurer, having partially paid only for covered losses, can share in the policyholder's recovery. The issue is increasing in frequency as insurers search for ways to recoup claim losses. Resolving this issue requires careful attention to the recovery allocation provisions of the relevant policies, as well as the many different types of releases, waivers, and other devices.
Listen as our authoritative panel of attorneys guides counsel through the issues related to the insured's recovery of third-party funds.
Presented By
Mr. Gold has represented numerous corporate and non-profit policyholders in various industries, with recoveries for his clients well in excess of $1.5 billion. His practice involves matters ranging from international arbitration, data security, directors and officers insurance, business income/property insurance, commercial crime insurance, admiralty, cargo, and marine insurance disputes. Mr. Gold has been lead trial counsel in multiparty bench and jury trials, and has negotiated and crafted scores of settlement agreements including coverage-in-place agreements. Mr. Gold has a regular column in Risk Management Magazine and has been published in numerous business and legal periodicals, covering a variety of insurance, commercial and consumer issues. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Insurance Law at Brooklyn Law School and is a frequent lecturer on insurance coverage issues speaking at conferences nationwide and internationally.
Mr. Horkovich has obtained over $8 billion in settlements and judgments from insurance companies for his clients. He is a trial lawyer with substantial experience in trying complex insurance coverage actions on behalf of corporate policyholders and governmental entities. Mr. Horkovic’s victories include one of the top 10 jury verdicts in the United States, the top insurance recovery jury verdict in the United States, seven landmark state Supreme Court decisions, eight jury verdicts and nine bench trial decisions in favor of the policyholder including engaging on several significant projects by the United Nations as its general insurance counsel and the state of California where Anderson Kill served as lead trial in the state's suit against dozens of insurance companies over coverage for cleanup of the Stringfellow Acid Pits (what a federal court described as the most complex environmental clean-up in the world). Mr. Horkovich is a frequent author and lecturer on insurance recovery topics.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
- schedule
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- Overview of made whole doctrine
- Meaning of made whole
- Timing
- Factors considered
- Policy provisions
- Provisions in releases or settlements
- Recovery sharing agreements
- Reservation of rights
- Unresolved coverage issues and prior positions of the parties
- Policyholder and insurer best practices
The panel will review these and other issues:
- What does it mean for an insured to be "made whole"?
- What is the significance of a reservation of rights?
- What are the key documents and provisions in those documents that dictate the result?
- What is a recovery sharing agreement?
- Do the same rules apply to any "insured" or just policyholders?
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