State guide · Midwest
Missouri subrogation law guide
The insured's damages are reduced by its percentage of fault but never barred. A 2026 House bill to adopt a 51% bar (HB 2714) stalled on the House perfection calendar and did not become law.
Missouri at a glanceMO
- Property damage
- 5 years
- Bodily injury
- 5 years
- Fault rule
- Pure comparative
- Gov. notice
- None
Overview
Missouri is one of the most recovery-friendly states for property subrogation. A 5-year limitation period covers property damage, personal injury and product claims under Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.120, writings that promise payment of money get 10 years under 516.110, and pure comparative fault means an insured's own negligence reduces but never eliminates the claim. Proposals to adopt a 51% bar keep surfacing; the 2026 House bill stalled on the perfection calendar, so pure comparative fault remains the rule as of October 2026. The constraints sit elsewhere. Joint and several liability applies only to defendants 51% or more at fault. Personal injury claims cannot be assigned, so Missouri courts reject medical payments subrogation and reimbursement against an injured person's tort recovery, outside uninsured motorist coverage. Public entities keep sovereign immunity except for motor vehicle operation and dangerous property conditions, with annually adjusted damage caps, and large cities require 90-day notice for street defect claims. The made-whole doctrine has little traction because Missouri does not apply equitable defenses to contractual subrogation.
Quick reference with citations
- Property damage SOL
- 5 years
- Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.120(4)
- Bodily injury SOL
- 5 years
- Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.120(4)
- Product liability
- 5 years (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.120), with comparative fault applied under 537.765. No product statute of repose; a 10-year repose protects designers and builders of improvements to real property (516.097).
- Written contract
- 10 years
- Contract and indemnity recoveries
- Comparative fault rule
- Pure comparative
- Gustafson v. Benda, 661 S.W.2d 11 (Mo. banc 1983); Mo. Rev. Stat. 537.765 (products)
- Government notice of claim
- No general statutory pre-suit notice
- No general notice-of-claim statute. Cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants must receive written notice to the mayor within 90 days of an injury caused by a defect in a street, sidewalk, bridge or similar thoroughfare (Mo. Rev. Stat. 82.210). Sovereign immunity is waived for negligent operation of motor vehicles and dangerous conditions of public property (537.600), with damage caps adjusted annually under 537.610.
Fault rule in practice
How Missouri's rule changes a $50,000 recovery.
The insured's damages are reduced by its percentage of fault but never barred. A 2026 House bill to adopt a 51% bar (HB 2714) stalled on the House perfection calendar and did not become law.
Authority: Gustafson v. Benda, 661 S.W.2d 11 (Mo. banc 1983); Mo. Rev. Stat. 537.765 (products)
| Insured's share of fault | Recoverable in MO | Under pure comparative |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 20% | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 50% | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| 60% | $20,000 | $20,000 |
Doctrines that move the number
Missouri doctrine checklist.
Made-whole doctrine
Missouri has almost no case law applying the made-whole doctrine to conventional subrogation, and its courts hold that equitable defenses do not limit contractual subrogation rights (Messner v. American Union Ins. Co., 119 S.W.3d 642 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003)). An insured may assign its entire property claim to the insurer even after a partial recovery, but the insurer cannot use unjust enrichment to take more than it paid (Keisker v. Farmer).
Economic loss doctrine
Tort recovery in product cases is limited to personal injury and damage to property other than the product sold, leaving self-damage to warranty and contract remedies (Clevenger & Wright Co. v. A.O. Smith Harvestore Products, Inc., 625 S.W.2d 906 (Mo. Ct. App. 1981)). The doctrine applies to sales of goods, not services, so contractor workmanship claims stay in tort.
Joint and several liability
A defendant 51% or more at fault is jointly and severally liable for the judgment; a defendant below 51% pays only its own percentage (Mo. Rev. Stat. 537.067). Joint tortfeasors have a right of contribution (537.060).
Anti-subrogation and waiver
A tenant is a co-insured under the landlord's policy only when the four corners of the lease show the parties intended to look solely to insurance (Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. v. Brodsky). Waiver of subrogation clauses and surrender clauses excepting loss by fire can supply that intent.
Practice notes
Working Missouri subrogation files.
- 1
Pure comparative fault combines with a 51% joint liability threshold. On a $120,000 restaurant fire where the insured is 30% at fault, the hood cleaning contractor 55% and the suppression system vendor 15%, the carrier's $84,000 judgment can be collected in full from the contractor because its share exceeds 51%. If neither defendant reaches 51%, each pays only its own percentage of the loss.
- 2
Do not open medical payments subrogation on Missouri bodily injury files. Courts treat both subrogation and reimbursement of medical payments as an invalid partial assignment of a personal injury claim (Travelers Indem. Co. v. Chumbley (Mo. Ct. App. 1965)), whatever the policy says. Uninsured motorist payments are the recognized exception, and property damage claims remain freely assignable.
- 3
Contract and indemnity claims can outlast the tort theory. A writing that itself contains a promise to pay money carries 10 years under 516.110(1); other contract actions take 5 years under 516.120(1). Pull the lease, construction contract or service agreement on every commercial loss and check whether the indemnity or repair obligation is written as a promise to pay.
- 4
Public entity claims need a waiver theory before they need a demand letter. A water main break or sewer backup claim against a city must fit the dangerous-condition exception in 537.600, a proprietary function, or the entity's liability insurance. In Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield and other cities of 100,000 or more, street and sidewalk defect claims also require written notice to the mayor within 90 days.
- 5
Ishqkala sets Missouri SOL alerts at 5 years from the date of loss for property and injury claims and reduces expected value only by the insured's estimated fault share, since no bar applies. Medical payments recovery is excluded from Missouri opportunity scoring, so the Recovery Opportunity Manifest does not overstate bodily injury files.
Key cases
Gustafson v. Benda
661 S.W.2d 11 (Mo. banc 1983)
Replaced contributory negligence with pure comparative fault by judicial decision, so the insured's own negligence reduces but does not bar the subrogated claim.
Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. v. Brodsky
950 S.W.2d 297 (Mo. Ct. App. 1997)
A tenant is treated as a co-insured, blocking the landlord's insurer from subrogating, only where the lease shows intent to look solely to insurance; the court found that intent in a surrender clause excepting loss by fire.
Keisker v. Farmer
90 S.W.3d 71 (Mo. banc 2002)
An insurer that paid its insured's lost business income could not use unjust enrichment to claim recovery proceeds beyond the amount it paid.
Inter-company arbitration
Missouri auto and property subrogation moves through Arbitration Forums like any other state, with compulsory jurisdiction up to $100,000 in company-paid damages, and pure comparative fault makes split-liability filings worthwhile. AF's Medical Payments forum is compulsory only in states that permit med pay subrogation by statute or court decision, so Missouri med pay claims do not belong there. The 5-year tort period leaves room to try AF first, but suits against non-signatories should not wait on the arbitration result.
How Ishqkala applies this guide
MO rules, built into every score.
- Opportunities with a Missouri loss state are calendared against the 5 years property damage period or the 5 years bodily injury period, whichever controls the claim type.
- The insured's estimated fault share is applied under pure comparative before recoverable dollars are scored.
- Public-entity claims are flagged for counsel review because notice and immunity rules vary by entity.
- Alerts fire at 180, 90, 45 and 15 days before the controlling deadline.
Other pure comparative jurisdictions
FAQ
Missouri subrogation FAQ
5 years (Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.120(4)). A subrogating carrier generally takes the insured's claim subject to the same limitation period, usually measured from the date of loss.
Pure comparative (Gustafson v. Benda, 661 S.W.2d 11 (Mo. banc 1983); Mo. Rev. Stat. 537.765 (products)). The insured's damages are reduced by its percentage of fault but never barred. A 2026 House bill to adopt a 51% bar (HB 2714) stalled on the House perfection calendar and did not become law.
No general notice-of-claim statute. Cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants must receive written notice to the mayor within 90 days of an injury caused by a defect in a street, sidewalk, bridge or similar thoroughfare (Mo. Rev. Stat. 82.210). Sovereign immunity is waived for negligent operation of motor vehicles and dangerous conditions of public property (537.600), with damage caps adjusted annually under 537.610.
Missouri has almost no case law applying the made-whole doctrine to conventional subrogation, and its courts hold that equitable defenses do not limit contractual subrogation rights (Messner v. American Union Ins. Co., 119 S.W.3d 642 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003)). An insured may assign its entire property claim to the insurer even after a partial recovery, but the insurer cannot use unjust enrichment to take more than it paid (Keisker v. Farmer).
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