Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 100747; Published
Judges Beasley, Sawyer, and Weaver; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 173 Mich App 51; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Scope of Mandated Coverages [§3131(1)]
Liability Policy Exclusions for Business Use [§3131]
Liability Policy Exclusions for Owned and Non-Owned Vehicles [§3131]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous per curiam Opinion, the Court of Appeals found valid a rental exclusion contained in a garage liability insurance policy issued by Auto-Owners and affirmed the trial court ruling that a no-fault policy purchased by the lessee of the vehicle provided coverage for all the dependents.
Plaintiff Anderson was injured in a motor vehicle accident when she was struck by a motor home owned by defendant Poynter, who was insured by Auto-Owners. The policy with Auto-Owners contained an exclusion of liability coverage for vehicles "leased or rented to others by the named insured." Defendant Poynter rented the vehicle to defendant Thomas, who had a special renter rider that provided liability coverage for the period of the rental. This coverage was provided through State Farm.
On appeal from a declaratory judgment in favor of Auto-Owners and finding that State Farm had the liability coverage, plaintiff Anderson claimed that the rental exclusion in Auto-Owners' policy was void and against public policy. Plaintiff argued that the previous decision of DAIIE v Irvine, 92 Mich App 371 (1979) held that automobile liability insurance policies could not contain exclusions not specifically authorized by the Legislature.
On appeal, the Court of Appeals held that the Supreme Court had recently ruled in Powers v DAIIE, 427 Mich 602 (1986) that an exclusion not specifically mentioned in the No-Fault Act was not "per se invalid." Therefore, the court held that the rental exclusion was not invalid under the circumstances of this case.
