March 29, 2010

Our insured was sitting in his car when an unknown person knocked at his window. Instead of rolling down the window, the insured opened the door and as he was exiting the vehicle, the insured was pulled out of the car and beaten. The personal auto policy insurer is paying for the insured’s medical expenses under the med pay coverage, but we are wondering if the insured can also collect uninsured motorists coverage. What is your opinion?

New Jersey Subscriber

The uninsured motorists (UM) coverage is not going to be applicable here. The uninsured owner’s or operator’s liability has to arise out of the use or ownership of an uninsured motor vehicle and the man who assaulted the insured certainly injured him, but this was not done through the use or ownership of an uninsured vehicle. Moreover, the limit of liability part of the UM coverage states that no one will be entitled to receive duplicate payments for the same elements of loss under UM coverage and medical payments coverage. Since the insured already received med pay, he is not entitled to any duplicate payments that would occur through UM coverage.