Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 182102; Unpublished
Judges Murphy, O'Connell, and Matuzak; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Cancellation and Rescission of Insurance Policies
Fraud/Misrepresentation
Uninsured Motorist Benefits: Uninsured Motorist Coverage in General
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous unpublished per curiam Opinion, the Court of Appeals affirmed summary disposition in favor of defendant, thereby prohibiting plaintiff from recovering uninsured motorist benefits under a policy obtained by plaintiffs father because of misrepresentations of material fact. Plaintiff’s father, Hikmat Zeer, obtained a no-fault certificate from defendant which included uninsured motorist coverage. This was obtained one day before plaintiff, Hikmat Zeer's son, was injured in an accident while a passenger in another vehicle driven by a friend.
In his application for insurance, plaintiff’s father, Hikmat Zeer, made significant misrepresentations regarding his terrible driving record, and the existence of children in his household. The court held that it made no difference whether these misrepresentations were intentional, as long as the insurer relied upon them in issuing its policy. Affidavits from the defendant insurer established this reliance. The court also noted that the "innocent third party" rule did not prohibit the defendant from rescinding this policy ab initio because "an insurer is not precluded from rescinding the policy to void any 'optional' insurance coverage, unless the fraud or misrepresentation could have been 'ascertained easily' by the insurer." In this case, uninsured motorist coverage is optional coverage. Moreover, because the misrepresentation occurred only one day before the accident, it could not have been easily ascertained by the defendant. Therefore, the material misrepresentations by plaintiffs father entitled defendant to rescind the policy ab initio and to properly deny optional uninsured motorist coverage to plaintiff.
