So** Lasciel ** did you sign comprehensive release? If you didn’t have any medical bills at the time of the car repair I can see why the adjuster might not have made an offer on your injury.
While the subrogation letter is disturbing there are three ways to address it.
One if you haven’t come to an agreed settlement turn it over to the adjuster handling your bodily injury claim. Also turn over all the medical bills you’ve paid out of pocket. Make sure you get a settlement that exceeds this amount to avoid any possibility of being on the hook for the bills.
Two if you signed a bodily injury settlement I suggest you turn the letter over to your agent to see if the medical payments coverage under your policy will address it. Assuming you have Med Pay Coverage and limits to cover the amount paid.
Three see SECTION 38-71-190. Subrogation of insurer to insured’s rights against third party. Subrogation is allowed but can be appealed. (Please note this is not legal advice and I am not a lawyer (nor do I play on TV.))
The thing that seems to be causing real confusion is that both you and the at fault party have the same insurance. What you’ve said leads me to think the carrier may have just assigned one adjuster, a liability adjuster who in fact represents the other party’s policy not yours. This is causing you some confusion since you’re not sure if the adjuster you’re dealing with is adjusting the claim under your policy or the other parties. I’d suggest you double check any letters you’ve received and see who they list as the Insured in the caption. If you can’t figure this part out talk with your agent. They should know.
Nope, I didn’t sign any comprehensive anythings, or any releases of anything. I checked last night, and I just have two signed pieces of paper.
a receipt of the initial amount which didn’t mention anything about any other settlements, items, or amounts, basically, it was just a letter-paper-sized receipt. “Yes, I actually got this amount of money from you on x date.” No other information or text.
I signed over the deed on my car in exchange for payment on it, and that had a lot of info about the car, and not getting any more money for it specifically, but nothing about health or medical or other compensation.
So… I’m thinking that I’m just going to send these nice medical people a certified letter with the insurance company claim number and the adjustor’s information.
Tell me about it. Yeesh.
I think you’re right here, and that’s part of the problem. I’m not sure they’re really representing ME specifically, or just representing the company directly and trying to minimize loss from the incident as a whole. (Not that I can blame them for trying, but it doesn’t make me very happy.)
Lots of reasons why they’d try to collect from you. Could be the person in charge of the file doesn’t know how things work in SC. Could be they feel they’re owed the subrogation claim regardless of how things work in SC. This may not be malicious, they may simply interpret the ruling differently and are testing the waters. Of course, they may be well-aware they are not entitled to anything and are trying to get the money anyway.
Awesome news that you haven’t settled the injury claim yet. Let the adjuster know you’ve gotten the subro letter and ask them about it. The least they should be able to tell you is whether they will honor the subro demand , and if not, why not (reference a statute number, DOI regulation, state jury instruction…something).