Northwestern National Insurance v. American States Insurance

George Rose Smith, Justice.

Under our 1973 No-Fault Insurance Act an insurance company which makes a no-fault payment to its own insured is entitled to a lien upon, and a right of reimbursement from, any tort recovery obtained by its insured, less the insurance company’s proportionate part of the costs of collection. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 66-4019 (Supp. 1977). In this dispute between two insurance companies Northwestern, which had a lien under the statute, contends in effect that it was entitled to a full recovery without paying its part of the costs of collection. The circuit judge, sitting as a…