There are 22 million vehicles registered in Texas. There are also 13 million head of cattle, the most in the country and over twice the number of the state with the second-mostNebraska.
Cattle and cars intersect more often than insurance companies would like to think about. In fact, in the fall season of September, October, and November, animal collisions in Texas account for an astonishing 24% of all car crashes.
Damages from these collisions amounts to over $1.3 billion annually which means that subrogating these losses has become an important area of claim reimbursement for aggressive and prudent insurers.
Subrogating Texas vehicle/livestock collisions, however, is more of a challenge than one might expect.
Lay persons and many claims professionals might assume that if livestock wanders onto the roadway and causes a collision, the animal owner would be responsible for any damages. However, as many lawyers and subrogation professionals in Texas ultimately discover, not so much. The law in Texas is not nearly that simple.