60th Judicial District Court; Docket No. 88-1440-GC;
Judge William J. Cole
Official Reporter Citation: ___ ; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this untranscribed bench Opinion, Judge Cole decided a question of first impression: In a motorcycle collision, where there is no no-fault policy within the priorities set forth in § 3114(5), is it appropriate to go back 'to the general priority provisions of §3114(1) (wherein the insured person's own auto insurer pays), or is the Assigned Claims Facility responsible for paying no-fault benefits?
The plaintiff in this case was a passenger on a motorcycle which collided with a motor vehicle. Neither the owner and driver of the motor vehicle, nor the owner and driver of the motorcycle, had any no-fault coverage. The injured motorcycle passenger did, however, have a no-fault policy from Farmers Insurance Company on another motor vehicle which the passenger owned. Judge Cole construed the first phrase of § 3114(1) "except as provided in subsections... (5)" to mean that §3114(1) controls priority, except when there is a policy within the priority provisions set forth in §3114(5). Since there was no policy within the priority provisions of §3114(5), the general priority provisions of §3114(1) controlled, under which the injured passenger's own no-fault insurer (Farmers Insurance Exchange) was responsible for paying no-fault benefits. The Court therefore denied Farmers' motion for summary disposition and granted summary disposition in favor of plaintiff against Farmers.
