Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket #229628; Unpublished
Judges Owens, Sawyer and Cooper; unanimous; per curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable, Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Vehicles and Trailers, Including Motorcycles [3123(1)(a)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous unpublished per curiam opinion, the Court of Appeals denied plaintiff’s claim for no-fault property protection insurance benefits. The property that was damaged consisted of Ford vehicles that were being transported on an auto transport truck/trailer. While the vehicles were being transported in this manner, the auto transport carrier was rear-ended by defendant’s insured vehicle. Plaintiff claimed that the damage to the three (3) Ford vehicles was compensable with property protection benefits because the vehicles were “safely parked” on the auto transport trailer at the time they were damaged, and thus benefits were payable under section 3123(1). The Court of Appeals rejected this argument and held that under section 3123(1)(a), the Ford vehicles were considered “contents” and therefore, they were excluded from property protection benefits. The auto transport trailer that was hauling the vehicles was certainly not parked at the time of the injury and therefore the exclusion applies. With regard to plaintiff’s argument that the Ford vehicles should be considered “parked,” the court stated that “plaintiff’s claim in this regard lacks merit.”
