14th Judicial District Court; Docket No. 80-517; Unpublished
Judge Thomas F. Shea;__________
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Nature of Survivor’s Loss Benefits [§3108(1)]
Calculation of Survivor’s Loss Benefits and Maximums [§3108(1)]
12% Interest Penalty on Overdue Benefits – Nature and Scope [§3142(2), (3)]
Requirement That Benefits Were Unreasonably Delayed or Denied [§3148(1)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this Opinion, Judge Thomas Shea made the following rulings regarding computing survivor's loss benefits under §3108 of the statute. First, citing Miller v State Farm (item number 378) Judge Shea held that the dollar value of employer paid health insurance is included within the loss of support under §3108. Second, Judge Shea ruled that survivor's loss benefits include all wages and any salary increases that would have been received by the decedent after the date of death. Third, all Social Security benefits received by dependents and all taxes that would have been paid by the decedent had he lived, should be subtracted from the dependent's gross loss rather than from the statutory monthly maximum benefits payable to dependents under §3108. Fourth, survivor's loss benefits under §3108 consist of two kinds of benefits — loss of support and replacement service expenses, the aggregate of which are controlled by the monthly maximum limitation. Fifth, plaintiff is entitled to recover 12 percent interest pursuant to §3142 of the Act without regard to good faith or bad faith refusal to pay. Thus, 12 percent interest is awardable under that section. However, in this case there was no unreasonable conduct by the defendant so no attorney fee is awarded under §3148.