Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 193120; Unpublished
Judges Sawyer, Neff, and Garbrecht; Unanimous Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Ways to Provide Required Security [§3101(3) + 3101(4)]
Entitlement to Benefits For Out of State Accidents [§3111]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Private Contract (Meaning and Intent)
CASE SUMMARY:
In this per curiam unpublished Opinion, the Court of Appeals found that no-fault first party coverage was not available to plaintiff truck driver for an out-of-state accident under a policy that provided "bobtail" coverage, when the accident occurred while the plaintiff’s truck was hauling a trailer. The court also found that an insurer who had issued a liability policy out-of-state on plaintiff’s semi-truck was not obligated to provide no-fault coverage where the policy did not include such coverage.
The plaintiff was a Michigan resident who owned a semi-truck and trailer registered in Michigan. She was injured in a single-vehicle accident involving the truck and trailer which occurred in Indiana. Plaintiff had a policy on the tractor issued by defendant Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Company that provided coverage when the semi was being used in a "bobtail" mode, which means that a trailer is not attached to the tractor. Second, at the time of the accident, plaintiff was operating under a contract with Central States Trucking Company, that had a policy of insurance with defendant Home Insurance Company. Third, plaintiff was covered under policies issued by Farm Bureau Insurance Company on vehicles other than the semi-truck. Plaintiff sought first party coverage for the subject accident under each of these policies.
The trial court found that the Empire policy did not provide for no-fault first party coverage under the terms of the policy. On appeal, plaintiff argued that first party coverage should apply under §3101(3), claiming the policy should be "deemed" to provide Michigan coverage. However, the Court of Appeals found that this statute provides that a policy is deemed to provide Michigan no-fault coverage if it is represented or sold as providing such security. Since the plaintiff presented no evidence that the bobtail policy was "represented or sold as providing Michigan no-fault coverage," the court found she was not entitled to first party benefits under this section. Furthermore, because plaintiff did not obtain Michigan no-fault insurance coverage on the subject vehicle, she was excluded from no-fault benefits under §3113(b) and. therefore, barred from coverage under the Farm Bureau policy.
Plaintiff also argued that the Empire "bobtail" policy was ambiguous because it stated that Empire would provide the minimum amounts and types of other coverages, such as no-fault, required of out-of-state vehicles in the jurisdiction where the vehicle is being used. However, the accident occurred in Indiana, which is not a no-fault state, and therefore, Michigan no-fault coverage was not available under the Empire policy.
Finally, plaintiff argued that she was entitled to first party coverage under §3111, which provides for benefits when a covered person is injured in an out-of-state accident. However, the Court of Appeals noted that the statute has been interpreted to require that the vehicle involved in the accident be insured under a Michigan no-fault policy and it was undisputed that here, plaintiff had not obtained such coverage on the semi-truck involved in the accident.
