Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 57496; Unpublished
Judges Allen, Cynar, and Falahee; Unanimous
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
General Rule of Priority [§3114(1)]
Exception for Occupants [§3114(4)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
This is a two-year-old unpublished Court of Appeals opinion which may have some significance given the fact that it is specifically referred to in the Supreme Court's Action on Application for Leave to Appeal in the case of Griffin v Lumbermens Mutual (see item number 753b).
In the Royal Globe case, the Court of Appeals held that a wife who was struck in her garage by a vehicle driven by her husband was an "occupant" of the striking vehicle for purposes of establishing priority of benefits. The Court relied upon the previous decision in Kalin v DAIIE (item number 494) which held that in the absence of physical contact with the insured vehicle, immediate prior occupancy is, at the very least, necessary to a finding of occupancy. The Court noted that in this case the wife was in physical contact with the insured vehicle at the time of impact. Additionally, she had been an occupant of that vehicle immediately before the accident and intended to return to the vehicle to unload it. Therefore, she was an occupant of the vehicle (owned by her husband's employer) and thus, entitled to recover no-fault benefits from the insurer of that vehicle under §3114(3).