Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 68901; Published
Judges Danhof, MacKenzie, and Dodge
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 132 Mich App 191; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Scope of Mandated Coverages [§3131(1)]
Liability Policy Exclusions for Owned and Non-Owned Vehicles [§3131]
Liability Exclusions Prohibiting Stacking of Coverages [§3131]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
Once again, another panel of the Court of Appeals distinguishes and declines to apply the Supreme Court opinion in State Farm v Ruuska (item number 487) regarding the stacking of liability coverages. At the time of the accident in question, William and Steven Deyarmond were residing in a household with their mother, Ester Deyarmond. Steven owned a 1980 Ford Mustang insured by Community Service. Ester owned a Ford Fairmont insured by Citizens. Ester was also the named insured on both policies. William was driving the Ford Fairmont when he was involved in an accident causing injuries to another person. The mother commenced this declaratory action to obtain a ruling that the insurance coverage on the uninvolved Mustang ought to be stacked as an "excess" policy. The trial court granted the request to stack on the basis of Ruuska. The Court of Appeals reversed. The Court held that under the "non-owned vehicle" exclusion in the Mustang policy, Ester Deyarmond would not be entitled to liability coverage for an accident involving any vehicle owned by her. Because she is the legal owner of the Fairmont which was involved in this accident, the exclusion in the Mustang policy would prevent stacking. State Farm v Ruuska did not apply to this case because "the reasonable perception of a person buying non-owned automobile insurance is that it will apply to automobiles which are not owned by that person.
