Supreme Court rules insurers can claim against responsible parties despite double coverage

The Supreme Court ruled that an insurer paying out for fire damage retains the right to seek compensation from the responsible party, even if it has already received contribution payments from other insurers covering the same property.

In a decision involving multiple fire insurance policies on a single building, the court held that receiving such contributions under Article 672 of the Commercial Act does not extinguish an insurer's right of subrogation against a tortfeasor under Article 682.

The ruling limits the recoverable amount to the insurer's net payment after deducting the shared contributions, adjusted by the liable party's proportion of responsibility.

This applies regardless of whether the insurer paid the full claim first and sought contributions later, or whether all involved insurers initially paid only their proportional shares directly to the policyholder.

The court further determined that these same rules govern cases where an insurer exercises a direct claim against a liability insurer compensating the tortfeasor, citing Article 724 Paragraph 2 of the Commercial Act.

The judgment was delivered on May 14 in case number 2025Da220815, a civil suit concerning indemnification.