Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 87543; Published
Judges Danhof, Shepherd, and Hobson; Unanimous
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 160 Mich App 88; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Ways to Provide Required Security [§3101(3) + 3101(4)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Motor Vehicle Code (Financial Responsibility Act) (MCL 257.501, et seq.)
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous Opinion by Judge Hobson regarding an issue of first impression, the Court held that a person or entity seeking the statute of a "self-insured" under §3101 (4) of the No-Fault Act must comply with the requirements of §531 of the Financial Responsibility Act (FRA). The latter statute requires that a person or entity own a minimum of 26 vehicles before qualifying as a self-insurer. When the plaintiff county applied for self-insurance status, the Secretary of State refused to certify plaintiff as a self-insured entity under §3101(4) for the reason that the county did not own the minimum of 26 registered vehicles as required by §531 of the FRA. The trial court ruled that the requirements of §531 do not control self-insurance status under §3101(4). The Court of Appeals reversed and held that the two sections must be read in pari materia. The Court stated, "the 26 minimum vehicle requirement restricts the class of people who may acquire self-insurance in order to insure collectability. The FRA and the no-fault act share the same legislative goal of compensating automobile accident victims and thus should be read together as one law."
