Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 62782; Published
Judges Walsh, Allen, and Cavanagh; Unanimous; Opinion by Judge Cavanagh
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 123 Mich App 140; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
This unanimous Opinion by Judge Cavanagh does not specifically deal with the interpretation of a particular provision of the No-Fault Act but does indirectly bear on the question of the coordination of benefits between health insurance and auto insurance policies.
The plaintiff in this case was injured in an automobile accident. She was entitled to receive benefits under an insurance policy (presumably an automobile policy) carried by her parents. In addition, she was entitled to receive health insurance benefits on a policy carried by her employer. The employer's policy had a coordination of benefits provision applying to medical and hospital benefits paid by other policies. However, this coordination clause was not written in conformity with the standardized language requirements of the Uniform Disability Insurance Policy Provisions Law, MCLA 500.3400 et seq. The Court stated, in comparing the defendant's coordination of benefits clause with the Act's sections setting forth the language dealing with this matter, MCL 500.3438,3440; it is apparent that they are not the same. While the language of these optional clauses may be varied with the Insurance Commissioner's approval, the record indicates that such approval was not requested nor granted in this case. We conclude that the defendant's failure to include in its insurance policy the explicit statutory language pertaining to coordination of benefits clauses renders the policy's coordination of benefits clause invalid....We hold that the defendant is not entitled to reduce the benefits owed the plaintiff under its policy by the amount the plaintiff received under her parents' insurance policy. Plaintiff is entitled to collect the full benefits payable pursuant to the provisions of the defendant's disability insurance policy."
