Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 47062; Published
Judges Cynar, Kelly, and Gillespie; Unanimous
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 100 Mich App 168, RB #344; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
General Rule of Priority [§3114(1)]
Recoupment Between Equal Priority Insurers [§3115(2)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In a unanimous Opinion by Judge Cynar, the Court of Appeals held that where a person is a named insured on no -fault policies issued by two different insurance companies covering two different vehicles, and this named insured is involved in a fatal accident while driving one of these vehicles, the insurance company which issued the policy covering the vehicle involved in the accident may not partially recoup from the other insurer no-fault benefits it paid. The Court held that under §3114(1) the insurer of the motor vehicle involved incident alone provides personal protection insurance benefits without entitlement to recoupment In addition, the insurance company of the noninvolved vehicle did not insure the same risk as the insurance company of the vehicle involved in the accident Therefore, the insurer of the vehicle involved in the accident is in a "higher order of priority" with respect to providing no-fault benefits and thus may not recoup from the other insurance company any portion of those benefits paid under §3115(2) of the Act.
In reaching its conclusion, the Court did note that the recoupment provisions of §3115(2) are not limited to situations involving nonoccupants. In addition, the Court held that the No-Fault Act provides for insurance policies insuring vehicles rather than persons.