Legal & Jurisdiction
Made-Whole Doctrine
The made-whole doctrine holds that a policyholder must be fully compensated for their loss before the insurer can collect on its subrogation claim from a limited recovery.
When the at-fault party can't cover the full loss, the made-whole doctrine generally puts the policyholder first: they recover their uninsured losses (deductibles, uncovered damages) before the insurer takes its share. The doctrine's strength varies by state and can be modified by policy language.