Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket #259453; Unpublished
Judges Smolenski, Owens, and Donofrio; unanimous; per curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not applicable, Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
One-Year Back Rule Limitation [3145(1)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous unpublished per curiam opinion, decided on remand from the Supreme Court for reconsideration in light of its decision in Cameron v Auto Club Insurance Association, 476 Mich 55 (2006) [Item No. 2648], the Court of Appeals affirmed summary disposition for defendant State Farm regarding plaintiff’s claim for benefits incurred more than one year before the date this action was filed. It also reversed summary disposition for defendant regarding plaintiff’s claim for benefits incurred within one year of the date the action was filed and remanded for further proceedings.
When plaintiff was 14 years old, she fell and hit her head when a parked car on which she was sitting moved. The vehicle was uninsured at the time of the accident and no police report was filed. When plaintiff was 18 years old, she filed an application with the Assigned Claims Facility, claiming a closed head injury. The claim was assigned to defendant and defendant refused to pay. Plaintiff filed this action three years later.
The trial court granted defendant summary disposition under the Court of Appeals’ holding in Cameron v Auto Club Insurance Association, 263 Mich App 95 (2004) [Item No. 2473], which the Court of Appeals affirmed. On remand from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals affirmed in part, finding that the plaintiff’s expenses which were incurred more than one year before she filed this action were barred by the one-year-back provision under MCL 500.3145(1). However, it reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings to determine whether any of the claimed expenses were incurred within one year of the date this action was filed. In this regard, the court stated:
“In this case, although plaintiff’s injuries occurred on February 27, 1997 when she was fourteen years of age, she did not file a claim until January 9, 2004. In her complaint, plaintiff seeks damages for accident related injuries including attendant care services, replacement services, and future medical treatment without date restrictions. The one-year-back rule of MCL 500.3145 bars plaintiff from recovering benefits payable under the no-fault act for accidental bodily injury for any portion of a loss that occurred more than one year before the action was commenced. . . . Therefore, the only recoverable damages would be those incurred by plaintiff during January 9, 2003 and January 9, 2004, the year directly preceding the filing of plaintiff’s complaint. . . . Due to the fact that we cannot determine if . . . plaintiff actually suffered identifiable damages during the year prior to the filing of her complaint, . . . we affirm the trial court’s summary disposition order with respect to plaintiff’s claims incurred prior to January 9, 2003, reverse the trial court’s summary disposition order with respect to those possible claims plaintiff may have incurred within one year preceding the filing of plaintiff’s complaint, and remand the cause of action to the trial court for further proceedings and analysis consistent with this opinion and Cameron, supra, 476 Mich at 58, 72.”
