Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 63067; Published
Judges Brennan, Kelly, and Graves; Opinion by Judge Kelly
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 124 Mich App 363; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Noneconomic Loss Liability of Uninsured Tortfeasors [§3135(1), (3)]
Liability for Economic Loss Caused By Uninsured Tortfeasors [§3135(3)(b)]
General / Miscellaneous [§3135]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this very significant Opinion by Judge Kelly, the Court of Appeals ruled pursuant to Citizens Insurance Company v Tuttle (item number 299) that under §3135 of the No-Fault Act, tort liability is abolished only if the required no-fault insurance has been obtained. Therefore, an uninsured motorist is "outside the basic no-fault system" and retains full tort liability. Accordingly, the Court held "to recover against an uninsured motorist for noneconomic loss, a plaintiff does not have to meet the 'serious impairment' threshold of §3135( 1)."
The case at bar involved an uninsured motorist arbitration proceeding. The arbitrators denied an award to plaintiff on the basis that he did not meet the serious impairment threshold. The Court of Appeals vacated the arbitrators' decision pursuant to the new arbitration review standards established by the Supreme Court in the recent decision of DAIIE v Gavin, #62403,12/23/82. In applying the Gavin standard, the Court of Appeals held, "It appears therefore that but for this error of law an award of money damages in favor of plaintiff would have been, or certainly at least would not have been foreclosed. In an arbitration case pursuant to an automobile insurance policy, when an error of law so material as to have governed the award has been made and but for such an error the award would have been substantially otherwise, reversal is required."
[Author's Comment: This decision rejects, without specifically stating, an older opinion of the Court of Appeals in Caplan v DAIIE (item 375).]
