25-1222.01.
Advance payment by person or corporation to injured person; not admission against interest; credit for payment; not admissible as evidence at trial.
No advance payments or partial payment of damages made by an insurance company or other person, firm, trust, or corporation as an accommodation to an injured person or on his behalf to others or to the heirs at law or dependents of a deceased person made under any liability insurance policy, or other voluntary payments made because of an injury, death claim, property loss, or potential claim against any insured or other person, firm, trust, or corporation thereunder shall be construed as an admission of liability by the insured or other person, firm, trust, or corporation, or the payer's recognition of such liability, with respect to such injured or deceased person or with respect to any other claim arising from the same accident or event. Any such payments shall constitute a credit and be deductible from any final settlement made or judgment rendered with respect to such injured or deceased person. In the event of a trial involving such a claim, the fact that such payments have been made shall not be admissible in evidence or brought to the attention of the jury, and the matter of any credit to be deducted from a judgment shall be determined by the court in a separate hearing or upon the stipulation of the parties.
Source:Laws 1967, c. 145, § 1, p. 442; Laws 1975, LB 560, § 1.
Annotations
Under this section, a party is entitled to a credit on any judgment rendered against him or her for payments or partial payment of damages made on behalf of such party to an injured person. Maxwell v. Montey, 265 Neb. 335, 656 N.W.2d 617 (2003).
The language and the intent of this section, which provides that an insurance company is entitled to credit on any judgment rendered against an insured for any payments or partial payment of claimed damages made on behalf of such party to an injured person or on his or her behalf to others, include an assignee or subrogee of the injured person. Brockhaus v. Lambert, 259 Neb. 160, 608 N.W.2d 588 (2000).
An insurance company is entitled to credit on a judgment against its insured for payments of claimed damages made on behalf of the injured party to the assignee or subrogee of the injured party. Beeder v. Fleer, 211 Neb. 294, 318 N.W.2d 708 (1982).
Unless the context otherwise requires, an advance payment by an insurer pursuant to a medical payments coverage provision in its insured's automobile liability policy should be applied as a credit to damages awarded against the insured. Murrish v. Burkey, 1 Neb. App. 650, 510 N.W.2d 366 (1993).