Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 152028; Published
Judges Brennan, Corrigan, and Anderson; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 202 Mich App 514; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Indemnity Dollar Thresholds [§3104]
Reimbursement of Member Claims [§3104]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous published per curiam Opinion, the Court of Appeals held that where two no-fault insurers share equally for a covered loss, each member must pay claims in excess of $250,000 before each will become eligible for indemnification by the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association.
This case arises out of serious bodily injuries sustained by 14-year old Kendra Gross. At the time of the accident, Kendra lived with her stepfather and stepbrother. There was no dispute that her accident injury related expenses were covered under her stepfather's no-fault policy with Transamenca and her stepbrother's no-fault policy with State Farm, on an equal priority basis under §3114. When the two no-fault carriers paid $125,000 each, for a total of $250,000 in benefits paid cumulatively, the insurers contended that they were entitled to reimbursement from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association under §3104(2) of the no-fault act. However, the Court of Appeals rejected the argument of the insurers, and found the language of §3104(2) to clearly and unambiguously provide that each member of the Catastrophic Claims Association will receive indemnification only when the amount of the loss of each member is in excess of $250,000 for a single loss occurrence. As each member in this case had only sustained losses in the amount of $125,000, the Court of Appeals upheld summary disposition in favor of the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association.
