The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling Friday, holding that a workers compensation insurer may pursue subrogation against an employee’s underinsured-motorist recovery, subject to limits established in a 2023 decision.
In ProAssurance Group d/b/a Eastern Alliance Insurance Co. v. Edna Manz, No. 55, 2025, the state’s highest court ruled that its 2023 decision in Horizon Services v. Henry — known as Henry II — applies to cases in which an employee injured in the course of employment also recovers from an underinsured-motorist insurer.
Edna Manz, an employee of Apis Services, was injured in a vehicle accident while driving for work. She received workers compensation benefits and a separate underinsured-motorist award stemming from the same incident.
ProAssurance, the workers comp insurer for Apis Services, paid Ms. Manz $374,071 for medical expenses and lost wages, plus an additional $80,000. At issue was whether Apis could assert a lien on the $215,000 uninsured-motorist award that Ms. Manz received after being injured in a work-related auto accident.
The Delaware Superior Court denied ProAssurance’s recovery, ruling that Henry II should not apply retroactively. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding that because Henry II was decided before Ms. Manz finalized both her comp settlement and her uninsured-motorist arbitration, it was controlling law.
However, the court clarified that Henry II does not guarantee reimbursement in every case. Rather, the insurer’s subrogation rights under the law extend only to “boardable” damages, or those that could be presented as recoverable medical expenses or wage losses at trial. Non-boardable damages, such as those covered by personal injury protection or representing pain and suffering, remain beyond the carrier’s reach.
The decision sends the case back to the Superior Court to determine how much of Ms. Manz’s uninsured-motorist award, if any, represents boardable damages subject to the comp insurer’s lien.