Italian Supreme Court restricts direct reimbursements between insurers

The Italian Supreme Court has issued a ruling (Ordinanza 18559) establishing that insurance companies cannot seek direct reimbursement from one another to settle claims involving multiple responsible parties. Under this ruling, an insurer that pays full compensation to a victim cannot bypass the actual liable party to demand a refund from the co-responsible party’s insurer.

Instead, the insurer must seek recourse directly against the individual or entity that committed the wrongdoing. This decision significantly impacts legal practices in medical malpractice, where hospitals and surgical teams are often held jointly liable. In the specific case that prompted the ruling, a hospital's insurer paid a full settlement and attempted to recover the portion attributable to a specific surgeon's professional policy, a request that was rejected by the Court because the second insurer was not the actual debtor.