State guide · Midwest
Nebraska subrogation law guide
The insured's recovery is reduced by its share of fault and barred entirely if its negligence is equal to or greater than the total negligence of all defendants, so a 50/50 split defeats the claim.
Nebraska at a glanceNE
- Property damage
- 4 years
- Bodily injury
- 4 years
- Fault rule
- Modified, 50% bar
- Gov. notice
- 365 days
Overview
Nebraska gives subrogation teams a uniform 4-year tort period for property damage, bodily injury and product claims, plus 5 years on written contracts, but its fault rule is one of the least forgiving outside the contributory negligence states. The modified comparative statute bars recovery when the insured's negligence equals or exceeds the combined negligence of the defendants, so a 50/50 split on an intersection collision returns nothing. In exchange, economic damages are joint and several among multiple defendants, which lets a carrier collect a subrogated property loss from the most solvent party. The made-whole doctrine applies with full force and cannot be contracted away after Dailey, and tenants are implied co-insureds under a landlord's fire policy for the whole building. Product claims face a 10-year statute of repose for Nebraska-made products, while out-of-state products take the repose period of their state of manufacture. Claims against counties, cities, school districts and other political subdivisions require a written claim within 1 year under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act. Nebraska is a traditional tort auto state with no PIP.
Quick reference with citations
- Property damage SOL
- 4 years
- Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-207
- Bodily injury SOL
- 4 years
- Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-207
- Product liability
- 4 years (Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-224(1)). Repose: 10 years from first sale or lease for Nebraska-made products; for products made elsewhere, the manufacturing state's repose period with a 10-year minimum, and if that state has none, only the 4-year limitation period (25-224(2)).
- Written contract
- 5 years
- Contract and indemnity recoveries
- Comparative fault rule
- Modified, 50% bar
- Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-21,185.09
- Government notice of claim
- 365 days
- Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act: written claim filed with the subdivision's clerk, secretary or other designated official within 1 year after the claim accrues, with suit within 2 years (Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-919, 13-905). Suit may follow a denial or 6 months without a decision. Claims against the State go to the Risk Manager within 2 years under the State Tort Claims Act (81-8,227).
Fault rule in practice
How Nebraska's rule changes a $50,000 recovery.
The insured's recovery is reduced by its share of fault and barred entirely if its negligence is equal to or greater than the total negligence of all defendants, so a 50/50 split defeats the claim.
Authority: Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-21,185.09
| Insured's share of fault | Recoverable in NE | Under pure comparative |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| 20% | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 50% | Barred | $25,000 |
| 60% | Barred | $20,000 |
Doctrines that move the number
Nebraska doctrine checklist.
Made-whole doctrine
Nebraska requires full compensation of the insured before the insurer subrogates, and the parties cannot contract out of the rule (Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Neb. v. Dailey). Whether the insured is whole is a fact question, though a jury verdict is presumptively conclusive. For auto medical payments, Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-3,128.01 permits pro rata subrogation when the insured recovers less than its economic loss.
Economic loss doctrine
Nebraska follows the majority rule: no tort recovery for damage to a defective product itself without personal injury or damage to other property (National Crane Corp. v. Ohio Steel Tube Co.). The doctrine also bars tort claims where the duty breached arises solely from a contract between the parties (Lesiak v. Central Valley Ag Co-op., 808 N.W.2d 67 (Neb. 2012)).
Joint and several liability
With multiple defendants, liability for economic damages is joint and several, while liability for noneconomic damages is several in proportion to fault (Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-21,185.10). Subrogated property losses are economic damages, so the joint rule usually applies.
Anti-subrogation and waiver
A tenant is an implied co-insured under the landlord's fire policy unless the lease shows otherwise (Tri-Par Investments, L.L.C. v. Sousa), and the protection extends to the whole building (Buckeye State Mut. Ins. Co. v. Humlicek, 822 N.W.2d 351 (Neb. 2012)). It does not bar the landlord's own uninsured losses (SFI Ltd. P'ship 8 v. Carroll, 851 N.W.2d 82 (Neb. 2014)).
Practice notes
Working Nebraska subrogation files.
- 1
The 50% bar makes close liability files binary. On a $36,000 intersection collision, an insured found 40% at fault recovers $21,600, but at 50% the claim is barred. When two defendants share fault, the insured's percentage is compared with their combined total, and the subrogated property loss, as an economic damage, can be collected in full from either defendant.
- 2
Political subdivision claims must be filed in writing with the clerk, secretary or other official designated by 13-905 within 1 year of accrual, and substantial compliance still requires delivery to that designated office. Suit may follow a denial or 6 months without a decision, and must be filed within 2 years. Sewer backups and collisions with city or county vehicles are the subrogation claims that most often hit this deadline.
- 3
Check the product's state of manufacture before relying on Nebraska's 10-year repose. For out-of-state products the manufacturing state's repose applies with a 10-year minimum, and if that state has no repose statute only the 4-year limitation period applies. In 2022 the Nebraska Supreme Court treated a contracted-for grain bin system, not its separately made components, as the product, which can change which state's repose controls.
- 4
Because Dailey bars contracting around made whole, settle allocation before settling the claim. For auto medical payments, a settlement or judgment below the tortfeasor's liability limits is conclusively presumed to be a complete recovery of economic loss (Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-3,128.01), which protects the med pay carrier; when the insured collects full limits and still falls short, the carrier shares pro rata.
- 5
Ishqkala treats 50% as a hard stop in Nebraska scoring: files where the liability model estimates the insured at 45% or more go to adjuster review instead of an automatic demand. The SOL engine dates political subdivision claim filings at 1 year from loss and the general tort deadline at 4 years.
Key cases
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Neb. v. Dailey
687 N.W.2d 689 (Neb. 2004)
Recommitted Nebraska to the made-whole doctrine and held that policy language cannot allow subrogation before the insured is fully compensated, overruling Shelter Ins. Co. v. Frohlich to the extent it suggested otherwise.
Tri-Par Investments, L.L.C. v. Sousa
680 N.W.2d 190 (Neb. 2004)
Absent a lease provision to the contrary, landlord and tenant are implied co-insureds under the landlord's fire policy, so the landlord's insurer cannot subrogate against a negligent tenant.
National Crane Corp. v. Ohio Steel Tube Co.
332 N.W.2d 39 (Neb. 1983)
A purchaser cannot recover in tort for economic loss from damage to the defective product alone; warranty law supplies the remedy.
Inter-company arbitration
Nebraska carriers use Arbitration Forums for most inter-company auto and property subrogation, with compulsory jurisdiction up to $100,000 in company-paid damages for signatories. Medical payments subrogation is enforceable in Nebraska, so med pay claims between signatories can be filed in AF's Medical Payments forum, subject to the pro rata rules in 44-3,128.01. Expect responding carriers to press the 50% bar, since an even liability split defeats the filing entirely.
How Ishqkala applies this guide
NE rules, built into every score.
- Opportunities with a Nebraska loss state are calendared against the 4 years property damage period or the 4 years bodily injury period, whichever controls the claim type.
- The insured's estimated fault share is applied under modified, 50% bar before recoverable dollars are scored.
- Files involving a public entity get a 365-day notice deadline that outranks the general SOL in the priority queue.
- Alerts fire at 180, 90, 45 and 15 days before the controlling deadline.
FAQ
Nebraska subrogation FAQ
4 years (Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-207). A subrogating carrier generally takes the insured's claim subject to the same limitation period, usually measured from the date of loss.
Modified, 50% bar (Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-21,185.09). The insured's recovery is reduced by its share of fault and barred entirely if its negligence is equal to or greater than the total negligence of all defendants, so a 50/50 split defeats the claim.
Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act: written claim filed with the subdivision's clerk, secretary or other designated official within 1 year after the claim accrues, with suit within 2 years (Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-919, 13-905). Suit may follow a denial or 6 months without a decision. Claims against the State go to the Risk Manager within 2 years under the State Tort Claims Act (81-8,227).
Nebraska requires full compensation of the insured before the insurer subrogates, and the parties cannot contract out of the rule (Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Neb. v. Dailey). Whether the insured is whole is a fact question, though a jury verdict is presumptively conclusive. For auto medical payments, Neb. Rev. Stat. 44-3,128.01 permits pro rata subrogation when the insured recovers less than its economic loss.
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