Who pays? In most civil cases, that is the ultimate question. But, in many cases involving an insured defendant, a jury’s verdict does not fully answer the question. Often, the insurer defends under a reservation of rights because the plaintiff seeks both covered and uncovered damages. The presence of both covered and uncovered damages creates a need to allocate any judgment between covered and uncovered amounts or claims—either at trial or thereafter—to determine what amounts are the responsibility of the defendant, and what amounts the defendant’s insurer must indemnify.

This need to allocate, in turn, raises questions of who has the burden of allocation—the insurer or the insured—and when, and in what forum, allocation should be decided.