Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 162342; Published
Judges Fitzgerald, Taylor, and Markman; Unanimous
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 210 Mich App 98; Link to Opinion
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Cancellation and Rescission of Insurance Policies
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous published Opinion by Judge Markman, the Court of Appeals held that Allstate Insurance was entitled to rescind its no-fault insurance policy on the grounds that plaintiff had misrepresented his driving record by incorrectly responding to a question on the application concerning whether or not he had any traffic citations within the last three (3) years prior to the application. Plaintiff claimed that he had mistakenly thought that his prior traffic citation for impaired driving had occurred prior to three (3) years from the application, when in fact, it had occurred shortly less than three (3) years prior to the application.
The Court of Appeals held that "rescission is justified in cases of innocent misrepresentation if a party relies upon the misstatement, because otherwise the party responsible for the misstatement would be unjustly enriched if he were not held accountable for his misrepresentation." This is true, even as in this case, if it was a mutual mistake of fact.