IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bep/uvalwp/uvalwps-1000.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Twenty-First Century Insurance and Loss Distribution in Tort Law

Author

Listed:
  • Kenneth Abraham

    (University of Virginia School of Law)

Abstract

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY INSURANCE AND LOSS DISTRIBUTION IN TORT LAW Kenneth Abraham University of Virginia School of Law This paper locates tort liability within our larger system of compensation for injury and illness, and compares the tort system's functioning and scope with the other methods of loss distribution that are employed by the system. This review reveals the extent to which there is in fact a vast system of loss distribution, of which tort is only a small part. On the other hand, that system is by no means comprehensive; it contains important gaps. The central issue is whether these gaps should be filled by tort or by the other sources, and how that might be accomplished. The paper then turns to the relationship between tort and the rest of the loss distribution system. It analyzes the different possible relationships by identifying and exploring the loss distributional and other impacts of four possible variants of the collateral source rule. My conclusion is that none of these variants satisfactorily reconciles the tension between tort law's deterrence goal and its comparative ineffectiveness at loss distribution. Finally, the paper looks at the rarely-considered, distinct treatment accorded to life insurance and savings under existing rules, and then recommends a "full-subrogation" approach to tort law's treatment of collateral sources. In order to retain tort law's deterrence potential but enhance overall loss distribution, potential tort victims should be permitted to transfer their full causes of action to their first-party insurers, in return for broader coverage or lower premiums.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth Abraham, "undated". "Twenty-First Century Insurance and Loss Distribution in Tort Law," University of Virginia John M. Olin Program for Law & Economics Working Paper Series uvalwps-1000, University of Virginia School of Law.
  • Handle: RePEc:bep:uvalwp:uvalwps-1000
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=uvalwps
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bep:uvalwp:uvalwps-1000. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F. Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.law.virginia.edu/home2002/html/index.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.