Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 27344; Published
Judge Burns, Beasley, and Gillis; Unanimous
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 74 Mich App 91; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
General / Miscellaneous [§3116]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Legislative Purpose and Intent
CASE SUMMARY:
Consistent with several circuit court decisions the Court of Appeals held that §3116 of the No-Fault Law was unconstitutional as violative of equal protection and due process. That section provides that whenever an insured effects a recovery from the tortfeasor who causes his injury, he must repay his own no-fault insurer for the first-party benefits he received from his insurer. The court noted that under the No-Fault Law, the injured party is only permitted to recover noneconomic losses from his tortfeasor. Yet, the injured party must repay his insurer out of this noneconomic recovery for benefits advanced to him which represent only economic losses. The court rules that such a reimbursement requirement discriminates between the seriously injured who must sue their tortfeasor to be made whole, and the less seriously injured who are made whole by receipt of no-fault benefits.