Opinion ID: 1706314
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Is State Farm or Universal Entitled to be Subrogated to the extent of the sum paid plaintiff by Roark's insurer?

Text: Section 8285-54 Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated (Supp. 1968) is in part as follows: An insurer paying a claim under the endorsement or provisions required by Section 1 [§ 8285-51] shall be subrogated to the rights of the insured to whom such claim was paid against the person causing such injury, death or damage, to the extent that payment was made;  . The person causing such injury within the meaning of this section is the uninsured motorist. The statute is not concerned with other joint tort-feasors. The protection afforded by the uninsured motorists coverage is not liability insurance. It affords no protection to the uninsured motorist. Its sole utility is to provide the injured party a means of collecting damages for his injuries; and rather than indemnifying the uninsured motorist, as does conventional liability insurance, it provides that the insurer paying the injured party is subrogated to the injured party's rights against the uninsured motorist to the extent that payment is made. State Farm and Universal are not entitled to be subrogated to plaintiff's claim against Roark, and the settlement of that claim did not diminish the uninsured motorists coverage.