Attorney General Frank Kelley
January 10, 1980
MTLA File No. 1944
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In a formal Opinion, Attorney General Frank Kelley ruled that a first party no-fault insurance company is required to reimburse policyholders for the cost of obtaining a medical report required by the insurance company pursuant to the No-Fault Act, whether the report is provided directly by the physician to the insurer or is furnished to the insurer through the claimant In addition, a physician may impose reasonable and customary charges for the preparation of such reports. Attorney General Kelley concluded that it would be contrary to the purposes of the No-Fault Act to require victims of accidents to pay for the preparation of reports required by insurance companies prior to paying claims. The doctor's charge is part of the insured's claim adjustment expense and is incurred because the insured chose to require a report rather than examining the file and records as authorized by the No-Fault Act.
