Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 225349; Published
Judges Griffin, Holbrook, Jr. and Hoekstra; unanimous; per curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 251 Mich. App. 454, Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Reimbursement of Member Claims [3104]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Revised Judicature Act – Miscellaneous Provisions
No-Fault Insurer Claims for Reimbursement: Insurer Reimbursement from MCCA
CASE SUMMARY:
This unanimous published per curiam opinion involved two (2) insurers who were in equal line of priority, one of whom had paid over $250,000 in medical expenses and was now being reimbursed for the excess by the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. The Court of Appeals held that the insurer who paid the first $250,000 in medical benefits was entitled to recoupment from the other insurer that was in equal priority. Therefore, the court held:
“Accordingly, when an insurer pays out benefits, it can recoup part of the money paid from another insurer in equal priority, even if the MCCA already has reimbursed the initial insurer. Under the plan, it is clearly the initial insurer’s duty to surrender to the MCCA any money it recovered that represented funds for which the MCCA already had reimbursed it, less any amount the board permits it to retain for costs and fees incurred in obtaining the recovery. Accordingly, the trial court made no error in allowing Farmers to recover from Titan.”
The court went on to hold that the insurer with the obligation to reimburse the initial insurer also was obligated to pay interest. However, interest should have been awarded under MCL 600.6013(6) rather than 6013(5), because the latter only applies to judgments “rendered on a written instrument.” The reimbursement action in this case was not based upon a written instrument but was rather a statutory action for reimbursement. Thus, traditional RJA interest under section 6013(6) was appropriate.
