Appellate Division holds that Medpay does not create a right to double recovery

Bernadette Lawton was in an automobile accident. Her auto insurer, Hanover, paid $2,000 in medical expenses under PIP. Her health insurer, Blue Cross, paid her remaining medical bills.

Lawton then sought $5,000 in medpay benefits from Hanover - as reimbursement for medical bills that had already been paid by Blue Cross.

In Lawton v. Hanover Ins. Co., 2010 WL 5238623 (Mass. App. Div.), the Massachusetts Appellate Division held that Lawton was not entitled to the medpay benefits: "Lawton's argument is inconsistent with both a rational construction of the standard automobile policy and the compensatory character of insurance proceeds."