Costs of Reimbursement or
Subrogation Recovery Must
Be Shared Proportionately
© 2009
Barry Zalma
ClaimSchool, Inc.
Before 2009 the question of how partial reimbursement or subrogation recovery was to be shared had not been established by the California Supreme Court. Regulations written by the Department of Insurance and case law was less than definitive. Silvia Quintana (Quintana) started with a $400 dispute and expanded it into a class action that rose to the Supreme Court and compelled it to resolve the issue on who gets what proportion of a reimbursement or subrogation recovery.
In 21st Century Insurance Co. v. Superior Court of San Diego County, No. S154790 (Cal. 08/24/2009), No. S154790, 2009.CA.0007260 the Court protected the right of an insurer to maintain its right to reimbursement or subrogation recovery in a fair and equitable manner that compelled the insurer and the insured to share the recovery in proportion to the amount of the total recovery from the tortfeasor applies to the insured and uninsured portions of the recovery.