Elaine Mahler v. George G. Szucs, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Petitioner Monica Fisher v. Aldi…

Summary

The court held that State Farm's policy required it to share proportionately in the expenses Mahler and Fisher incurred in obtaining settlements that included reimbursement of State Farm's PIP payments. It vacated Mahler's prejudgment-interest award, held that her attorney-fee entitlement arose under the arbitration rule rather than the insurance-coverage fee doctrine, and remanded for findings supporting the fee amount; it reversed the judgment against Fisher and remanded for judgment in her favor. Alexander, J., dissenting, would have denied expense sharing because the PIP payments were recoverable through inter-insurer arbitration, while Madsen, J., concurred but disagreed with part of the majority's explanation of the policy exception.