First Party Property & MVA Defense

The day-to-day of Pennsylvania insurance defense isn't Labor Law or coverage disputes — it's the volume work. First-party property claims (homeowners, commercial property, fire, water, wind, theft) and motor vehicle accident defense make up the bulk of any panel counsel's caseload. These files are lower-exposure individually but demand efficiency, consistent quality, and cost discipline across a high volume of matters.

First Party Property

First-party property claims involve the insured's own policy — homeowners, renters, commercial property, inland marine, builders risk. The disputes typically fall into a few categories:

• Cause of loss: Was the damage caused by a covered peril (windstorm, fire, vandalism) or an excluded cause (flood, earth movement, wear and tear, faulty maintenance)? The carrier bears the burden of proving the exclusion applies.
• Scope of damage: The carrier and the insured agree the loss is covered but disagree on the extent. The carrier's estimate says $18,000; the insured's contractor says $62,000. These disputes often turn on whether the carrier's adjuster actually inspected the property and whether the estimate accounts for all damaged components.
• Appraisal disputes: Most property policies contain an appraisal provision — either party can demand appraisal when the dispute is over the amount of the loss (not coverage). Appraisal is faster and cheaper than litigation, but the carrier must understand when appraisal is appropriate (valuation disputes) versus when it's not (coverage disputes that the carrier needs a court to resolve).
• Policy conditions: Late notice, failure to cooperate, misrepresentation in the application or proof of loss, failure to protect the property from further damage. These are affirmative defenses that can defeat the claim entirely — but only if the carrier can show prejudice (for late notice) or materiality (for misrepresentation).

Motor Vehicle Accident Defense

MVA defense in Pennsylvania means navigating the state's choice tort system and its practical implications for every file:

• Limited tort vs. full tort: Pennsylvania is one of the few states that lets insureds choose between "limited tort" (lower premiums, but the insured can only recover economic damages unless the injury meets a "serious injury" threshold) and "full tort" (higher premiums, full right to sue for pain and suffering). The limited tort election is the single most important fact in any MVA defense file. If the plaintiff elected limited tort, the defense has a threshold motion that can eliminate the non-economic damages claim entirely.
• The "serious injury" threshold: Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1705(d), a limited tort plaintiff can only recover non-economic damages if they suffered a "serious injury" — defined as "a personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement." This is a question of law for the court on summary judgment. The defense must develop the medical record to show the plaintiff's injuries, while real, do not meet the statutory threshold.
• UM/UIM claims: Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims are first-party claims against the insured's own carrier. Pennsylvania's stacking rules (75 Pa.C.S. § 1738) create additional complexity — whether the insured validly waived stacking, whether multiple vehicles on the policy create stackable limits, and whether household vehicles on different policies stack. These are coverage questions that must be resolved before the damages dispute.
• Coordination of benefits: Pennsylvania's Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (75 Pa.C.S. § 1720) creates a complex web of primary/excess relationships between auto insurers, health insurers, and workers' compensation carriers. Getting the priority right matters — a carrier that pays benefits it shouldn't have paid may not get them back.

Subrogation

After paying a first-party claim, the carrier steps into the insured's shoes and pursues the responsible third party. We handle subrogation actions for property damage (fire caused by a contractor's negligence, water damage from a neighbor's failed plumbing, vehicle damage from an at-fault driver) and coordinate with the insured when their cooperation is needed. The key to successful subrogation is early investigation — preserving evidence, identifying responsible parties, and putting them on notice before the scene is remediated and the evidence disappears.