Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 85936; Published
Judges Maher, Holbrook, and Stempien; Unanimous
Michigan Official Reporter Citation: ____; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
One-Year Notice Rule Limitation [§3145(1)]
Required Content of Notice / Sufficiency of Notice [§3145(1)]
Tolling of Limitations Upon Death [§3145]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Revised Judicature Act – Tolling of Statutes of Limitations (MCL 600.5851 – 600.5856)
CASE SUMMARY:
In a lengthy unanimous Opinion by Judge Stempien, the Court of Appeals addressed this issue: whether an insurance company subrogee of a person entitled to use the death saving provision of MCLA 600.5852 is also entitled to use those tolling provisions to defeat a statute of limitations defense to the insurer's subrogation claim. The Court answered the issue in the following way:
"We believe that Federal Kemper v Isaacson, 145 Mich App 179 (1985), and the general law of subrogation provide that an insurance company that is subrogated to a deceased person's rights is also entitled to use the tolling provision of MCLA 600.5852. In Federal Kemper, this Court allowed an insurance company that was a subrogee of the personal representative of the estate of a deceased to use the tolling provision of MCLA 600.5856."
The court also held that in order for a letter to satisfy the "notice provisions" of section 3145(1), it must, at a minimum, appraise of the need to investigate and to determine the amount of possible liability under the policy. Contrary to section 3145(1), the notice letter involved in this case did not state the claimant's address, the nature of his injury or the place and time of his injury. Therefore, it was defective notice.
