MOTOR VEHICLE TORTS: Superior Court holds defendant insurer may not apportion third party in UIM claim where that party was not originally named as a tortfeasor

The plaintiffs brought an underinsured motorist claim against the plaintiff’s insurer after they were injured in an accident allegedly caused by the tortfeasor Harris.  The defendant insurer filed apportionment claims against a third party and his employer, alleging that the third party’s negligence was the proximate cause of the underlying accident.  The apportionment defendants moved to strike the apportionment claims, arguing that the insurer could not assert claims against them under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-572h because the underlying complaint identified a single tortfeasor, Harris, as the negligent party.  The defendant insurer was brought into the action as a surrogate for Harris only.  The Court granted the apportionment defendants’ motion to strike, holding that where a complaint alleges the negligence of a single identified tortfeasor only, and an insurer is brought in as a surrogate for that tortfeasor, the insurer may not file an apportionment complaint against a third party not named in the complaint.  Solis v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Illinois, No. CV18-6078403; Nov. 23, 2018