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17 Ohio St. Bus. L.J. 53 (2023)
"Grossly Negligent Utilities," "Unimaginable Property Damage" and the Scope of Liability Insurers' Duty to Indemnify Subrogated Property Insurers - Probative and Empirical Inferences from Courts' Divided Subrogation and Indemnification Decision

handle is hein.journals/eblwj17 and id is 59 raw text is: GROSSLY NEGLIGENT UTILITIES, UNIMAGINABLE PROPERTY DAMAGE, AND THE SCOPE OF LIABILITY INSURERS' DUTY TO INDEMNIFY SUBROGATED PROPERTY INSURERS-PROBATIVE AND EMPIRICAL INFERENCES FROM COURTS' DIVIDED SUBROGATION AND INDEMNIFICATION DECISIONS WILLY E. RICE* SYNOPSIS: Each year, extreme weather, natural disasters and allegedly grossly negligent investor-owned utilities concurrently destroy property, persons and lives. In the wake, billions of dollars are lost. Given utilities' general immunity under the judicially created filed-rate or filed-tariff doctrine, residential and commercial owners are precluded from filing ordinary- negligence actions against utilities. Thus, many injured consumers try to settle their property-loss claims with their insurers. Some property insurers satisfy the make-whole doctrine and cover all losses. Most insurers, however, refuse to settle any claim. Or, they partially compensate the insureds. Yet, an overwhelming majority of property insurers are increasingly filing subrogation actions against utilities and the latter's liability insurers---demanding to be totally reimbursed for the entire value of each property-loss or personal-injury claim. Should the most profitable property insurers in the world have standing to file duty-to-indemnity actions against utilities-if the insurers refuse to fully compensate injured property owners after natural disasters and energy interruptions? The question has produced conflicting judicial rulings-given that a few states' anti-subrogation statutes are ambiguous. Should unsophisticated utility customers have a right to file ordinary- negligence actions against utilities? The answer might be easy- given utilities' ever-rising rates as well as politically conservative and liberal state supreme courts' negligence- based, utility-maintenance and pro-consumers decisions. The Article explains the origin and substance of utilities-caused, subrogation and indemnification disputes. It also presents the results of an empirical study to help explain the judicial

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