February 4, 2019 I have a complaint coming in against a carrier for a situation that is actually quite common except for the way the insurance carrier is acting.

Mother and adult daughter are residing in same home, but each has her own auto policy. Adult daughter backs into mother's vehicle. Mother files the claim with her own carrier. Because the Property Damage portion of the PAP prevents it from paying towards damage to another resident relative's vehicle, the daughter's carrier will not reimburse the mother's carrier for the cost of those damages. Now the mother's carrier is subrogating directly to the adult daughter. Since a PAP defines a resident relative, such as a child, as also an “Insured”, they are essentially subrogating against their own insured. Have you heard of the Anti-Subrogation rule?

Vermont Subscriber

There is no such exclusion in the property section of the ISO form, and under liability, coverage is excluded only for vehicles “other than your covered auto” owned by a family member. If daughter has a separate car on a separate insurance policy with a different carrier, then her policy should cover. If it's a separate policy through the same carrier, it should still provide coverage. If the mom and daughter are on the same policy then the insurer can't subrogate against itself, but otherwise it should be covered.

The statute Va. code Ann.§ 38.2-207 states that: “Except for contracts or plans subject to § 38.2-3405 or § 38.2-2209, when any insurer pays an insured under a contract of insurance which provides that the insurer becomes subrogated to the rights of the insured against any other party the insurer may enforce the legal liability of the other party. This action may be brought in its own name or in the name of the insured or the insured's personal representative.” The 2 sections referenced apply only to hospital, surgical, medical insurance, and not auto coverage.

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