Visitor Question

Homeowner wants us to file a claim with our health insurance first?

Submitted By: Amanda (Carriere, MS)

My husband was working on a friend’s car at the friend’s house and got his finger caught in the engine. My husband went to the hospital and had emergency surgery. Our “friend” wants to wait until our health insurance is done processing the claims and then submit a claim to his homeowners insurance for our out of pocket expenses.

Is this right? Will this make things worse on us in the long run? What should we do? Thank you for any perspective you can give on this situation.

Disclaimer: Our response is not formal legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is generic legal information based on the very limited information provided. Do not rely upon the information in our response, or anywhere else on this site, when deciding the proper course of a legal matter. Always get a personalized case review from a local attorney.

Answer

Dear Amanda,

While your husband’s friend should file a homeowners claim, it appears he doesn’t want to…at least not at this point. Your husband doesn’t have to wait. He can simply ask his friend for his homeowner’s insurance company’s contact information. Once he has that information, your husband can file an injury claim himself.

There is no legal requirement under which your husband must first exhaust his own medical insurance. However, if your husband’s insurance paid his medical bills promptly, it may have been a good idea to use that medical insurance while waiting for the homeowners insurance company to investigate the claim and compensate your husband for the injury and it’s resulting medical bills.

Doing so does not constitute a bar to your husband’s filing the homeowners claim promptly as well. In the event your husband’s friend refuses to give you his homeowners insurance information, your husband has a right to sue him. Hopefully, that won’t be necessary.

There is a caveat… If your husband does file a homeowners claim under his friend’s policy and your husband wins a settlement, your husband’s medical insurance may want to exercise their

“subrogation” rights under your husband’s medical insurance policy.

To subrogate means your husband’s medical insurance company has a right to be reimbursed for the money they paid for your husband’s’ medical bills and related expenses.

This means your husband’s medical insurance company can either seek reimbursement for those monies from your husband’s friend, or seek reimbursement from your husband if he receives those monies first. It’s important for your husband to read the fine print in his medical insurance contract.

Learn more here: Homeowner's Insurance Injury Claims

The above is general information. Laws change frequently, and across jurisdictions. You should get a personalized case evaluation from a licensed attorney.

Find a local attorney to give you a free case review here, or call 888-972-0892.

We wish you the best with your claim,

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