Opinion ID: 2166949
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: PIP Subrogation Action Accrues Upon Payment

Text: The concern that this Court expressed in Rothermel, about a PIP insurer's right of subrogation against the individual tortfeasor, is no longer a relevant consideration because of the subsequent amendments to Section 2118. Delaware's current No-Fault Insurance Statute no longer permits a claim for subrogation by the PIP insurer against the individual tortfeasor. Instead, the PIP insurer's right of subrogation is limit exclusively to the tortfeasor's liability insurance coverage. 21 Del.C. § 2118(g)(1). Consequently, the PIP insurer's cause of action for subrogation will only involve litigation with the tortfeasor's liability insurer. An analysis of the present statute reflects why the PIP insurer's cause of action for subrogation against the tortfeasor's liability insurer does not accrue until PIP payments are made. In some circumstances, the PIP insurer must pay benefits more than two years after the date of accident. For example, the statute provides that certain bills for medical treatment may be presented to the PIP carrier more than 90 days after the two-year anniversary date of the accident. 21 Del.C. § 2118(a)(2)i.2. Additionally, surgical bills incurred more than the two years after the accident are compensable as PIP benefits, if a doctor certifies their necessity within two years of the accident date. 21 Del.C. § 2118(a)(2)a.3. If the accrual of a PIP insurer's cause of action for subrogation began on the date of the accident, rather than upon payment of PIP benefits, the PIP insurer could not pursue subrogation regarding certain claims submitted pursuant to 21 Del.C. § 2118(a)(2)i, or with regard to surgical and dental procedures incurred in compliance with Section 2118(a)(2)a.3. That construction would make the amended statute unworkable. Consequently, the General Assembly could not have intended that the PIP insurer's cause of action for subrogation rights would accrue on the date of the accident. See Opinion of the Justices, Del.Supr., 295 A.2d 718, 721-22 (1972). In this opinion, we have held that the PIP carrier's right of subrogation is a statutorily created cause of action. We have also held that the applicable statute of limitations for that cause of action is the three-year provision in 10 Del.C. § 8106. We further hold that a cause of action for the PIP insurer's statutory right of subrogation, against the tortfeasor's liability insurer, does not accrue until the PIP benefit is paid to or for its insured. [7] See Chesapeake Utils. Corp. v. Chesapeake & Potomac Tel. Co., Del.Super., 401 A.2d 101, 102 (1979).