Opinion ID: 2340508
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Should the judgment have been credited for the UIM benefits?

Text: Motorist's first point asserts that the trial court erred in refusing to credit the judgment by the $25,000 UIM benefits that Farmers paid Passenger because the UIM benefits did not constitute a collateral source payment in that Passenger did not incur any expense, obligation, or liability in securing the Farmers policy under which the UIM benefits were paid. This issue presents an issue of law, and this Court gives de novo review to questions of law. Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. Dir. of Revenue, 908 S.W.2d 353, 355 (Mo. banc 1995). The collateral source rule is an exception to the general rule that damages in tort are compensatory only. Washington ex rel. Washington v. Barnes Hosp., 897 S.W.2d 611, 619 (Mo. banc 1995). The collateral source rule prevents a tortfeasor from reducing his liability to an injured person by proving that payments were made to the person from a collateral source. Id. The collateral source rule is not a single rule, but is instead a combination of rationales applied to a number of different circumstances to determine whether evidence of mitigation of damages should be precluded from admission. Id. The application of the collateral source rule prevents an alleged tortfeasor from attempting to introduce evidence at trial that the plaintiff's damages will be covered, in whole or in part, by the plaintiff's insurance. Id. The rule expresses the policy that a wrongdoer should not benefit from the expenditures made by the injured party in procuring the insurance coverage. Duckett v. Troester, 996 S.W.2d 641, 648 (Mo.App.1999). Motorist asserts that the collateral source rule should not be applied to prevent a credit to the judgment in this case because Passenger incurred no expense, obligation, or liability in obtaining the UIM benefits. Motorist's arguments regarding the collateral source rule in this context, however, are irrelevant. The collateral source rule is a rule of evidence. Motorist did not attempt to use the collateral source rule to present mitigating evidence during trial relating to the $25,000 UIM benefits. Instead, he raised the collateral source rule in his post-judgment motion for credit against verdict, wherein he argued that the verdict should be reduced to reflect both the bodily injury benefits and the UIM benefits Passenger received from Farmers. Motorist does not cite any authority for using the collateral source rule to obtain a post-judgment credit against a verdict. As such, the trial court did not err in refusing to credit the verdict for the $25,000 UIM benefits based on Motorist's arguments that they were not from a collateral source.