Uninsured/Underinsured Subrogation Rights – Don’t Destroy Your UM Claim

Today we are going to talk about an important subject. The subject is how to not destroy your uninsured/underinsured motorist claim by quickly settling with a third party (person who caused the car wreck, trucking accident and/or motorcycle accident).

Cases in Oklahoma state that the insured who settles with the tort-feasor and releases him

destroys his UM claim. This is so because the insurance company has been deprived of its subrogation right against the tort-feasor. Oklahoma has evolved to further state that the insured may force the UM insurance company to either waive subrogation or substitute its payment for the person who caused the accident and offers to pay his or her liability limits. The effect of a substitution is that the insured remains entitled to the total of the tort-feasor’s liability limits and the insured’s UM limits.