Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 74083; Published
Judges Brennan, Allen, and Gribbs; Unanimous
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 137 Mich App 128; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
12% Interest Penalty on Overdue Benefits – Nature and Scope [§3142(2), (3)]
Requirement That Benefits Were Unreasonably Delayed or Denied [§3148(1)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous Opinion by Judge Allen, the Court relied upon the previous Court of Appeals decision in Nash v DAIIE (item number 5801 and held that 12% interest under §3142 of the No-Fault Statute is due and owing regardless of whether or not the no-fault insurer denied the claim in good faith and pursuant to previous Court of Appeals decisions which were subsequently reversed by the Supreme Court Judge Allen's opinion found that the Nash decision was "the more apposit case" than the recent decision in Sharpe v DAIIE (item number 644).
In addition, the Court affirmed the trial court's award of attorney fees on the basis that the same was not "clearly erroneous." The holding on the attorney fees issue is significant in light of the fact that the dispute in this case was a pure priority dispute involving injuries sustained by an out of state citizen in an accident occurring in Michigan. Both insurers denied liability for payment of benefits for priority reasons. In affirming the trial court's award of attorney fees, the Court of Appeals noted:
"As to attorney fees, a trial court's finding of unreasonableness will be reversed only if the finding is clearly erroneous, and, since the only dispute in the instant case was which of two insurers would pay, it was patently unfair to force a severely injured patient to wait six years for payment of benefits. Thus, the trial court's finding of unreasonableness was not clearly erroneous."
