Moore v. Beacon Ins. Co., 8126DC245
| Decision Date | 17 November 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 8126DC245,8126DC245 |
| Citation | 284 S.E.2d 136,54 N.C.App. 669 |
| Parties | Thomas E. MOORE v. BEACON INSURANCE COMPANY. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Haynes, Baucom, Chandler, Claytor & Benton by W. J. Chandler, Charlotte, for plaintiff-appellee.
Casstevens & Hanner by Dorian H. Gunter, Charlotte, for defendant-appellant.
In order to determine the propriety of summary judgment for plaintiff, we first consider the nature of the protection afforded plaintiff by the uninsured motorist provision in his automobile liability policy. Uninsured motorist coverage provides the same protection to a person injured by an uninsured motorist as one injured by a tortfeasor with standard liability coverage. Williams v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., 269 N.C. 235, 152 S.E.2d 102 (1967); 7 Am.Jur.2d, Automobile Insurance, § 293 (1980). We therefore conclude that plaintiff's claims or rights against the defendant pursuant to the uninsured motorist provision in his policy are the same as his rights against a tortfeasor with an ordinary liability insurance policy.
We next consider plaintiff's and defendant's rights and obligations under the medical payments provision of the insurance policy. It is well-settled in North Carolina that an insurer is subrogated to its insured's rights to recover medical expenses resulting from injuries inflicted by a tortfeasor when the insurer has paid such medical expenses pursuant to a medical payments provision in the insurance policy. See Carver v. Mills, 22 N.C.App. 745, 207 S.E.2d 394, cert. denied, 285 N.C. 756, 209 S.E.2d 280 (1974); Milwaukee Insurance Co. v. McLean Trucking Co., 256 N.C. 721, 125 S.E.2d 25 (1962). On the same equitable principles, if the insurer has made payments to the insured for the loss covered by the policy and the insured thereafter recovers for such loss from the tortfeasor, the insurer can recover from the insured the amount it had paid the insured, on the theory that otherwise the insured would be unjustly enriched by having been paid twice for the same loss. North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. v. Greer, 54 N.C.App. 170, 282 S.E.2d 553 (1981); see also United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Reagan, 256 N.C. 1, 122 S.E.2d 774 (1961) and Fidelity Insurance Co. v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co., 165 N.C. 136, 80 S.E. 1069 (1914). We perceive no reason why the rule against unjust enrichment should be any different whether the injured party recovers his medical expenses from the liability carrier of the tortfeasor...
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...context of recovering payments for medical benefits, as in uninsured motorists automobile insurance policies. Moore v. Beacon Ins. Co., 54 N.C.App. 669, 670, 284 S.E.2d 136, 138, disc. review denied, 305 N.C. 301, 291 S.E.2d 150 (1981) ("It is well-settled in North Carolina that an insurer ......
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