Auto Insurance Claims: med pay/having to reimburse my insur co?, insurance comapny, medical payments

Question
I live in California. My husband and I were in an accident that was deemed the other person's fault. My husband was injured in the accident. We have Medical Pay, so our insurance company has paid our bills. We settled with the third party co. for $4000 and now my insurance company is saying they want us to reimburse them for all of our medical payments which is $1700. The third party company verbally stated that the settlement amount included $1000 of medical and $3000 for pain and suffering. In the beginning, I had specifically asked my company (to clarify that I understood the process correctly) if they go after getting reimbursement from the third party for the medical payments they are paying on our behalf. They said yes. Then why are they coming back to me for reimbursement? Don't I pay for Med Pay in the first place so that my insurance company will cover the medical bills?  

Answer
Hi Melissa,

Med Pay is a reimbursable coverage. That means that if you receive a settlement from the at-fault persons insurance, you must reimburse your insurance comapny.  From your description, it appears that the other insurance company reduced your medical bills from $1700.00 to $1,000.00.  This is a common practice although it is very deceiptive.

If you have already settled with the other insurance company and have signed a release form, there is nothing you can do. You may be able to negotiate with your insurance company to accept the $1,000.00 for the reduced medical expenses.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh