MOTOR VEHICLE LAW: Trial court finds defendant insurance company had a right to apportionment of damages in a motor vehicle collision

The Superior Court denies a motion to strike the defendant’s apportionment claim. The court holds that the plaintiff’s underinsured motorist carrier may file an apportionment claim against a third party, even though the plaintiff did not name that party as a defendant in her personal injury action. The plaintiff was injured when vehicle operator Richard Mollo collided into a vehicle in which plaintiff was a passenger.

After Mollo exhausted his liability insurance policy, plaintiff filed suit against her own insurer (Safeco of Illinois), bringing a claim from her underinsured motorist coverage. Safeco filed an apportionment complaint against Frederick Riso. Riso was the driver of the vehicle that plaintiff was a passenger in during the accident. Safeco claimed that Riso’s negligence was a proximate cause of the injuries. The court held that Conn. Gen. Stat. §52-527h creates a right of apportionment.

Although the plaintiff did not name Riso as a party in the original complaint, the case still contained multiple tortfeasor actions. Safeco pleaded sufficient facts to show that Riso’s conduct was in fact negligent.

Risco v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Illinois, Superior Court, judicial district of New Haven, Docket No. CV-19-6088296 (December 12, 2019)