Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 43340; Published
Judges Danhof, MacKenzie, and Piercey; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 101 Mich App 761; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Private Contract (Meaning and Intent)
Uninsured Motorist Benefits: Lien and Reimbursement Rights of Uninsured Motorist Insurers
CASE SUMMARY:
In this per curiam Opinion, the Court of Appeals held that an uninsured motorist carrier was entitled to be reimbursed out of the insured's subsequent dram shop recovery only to the extent that the dram shop recovery duplicated benefits paid by the uninsured motorist carrier to its insured. In this case, the insured collected the $20,000 UM policy limits from plaintiff, Michigan Mutual, and then obtained additional settlement money from the dram shop defendant. The insured had executed a trust agreement with Michigan Mutual promising to hold for the benefit of the insurance company all rights and claims which the insured had against any other parties involved in the action. The Court concluded that the insured has a right to "be made whole" for all damages suffered as a result of the accident, and to the extent that he is made whole, the uninsured motorist carrier is entitled to repayment out of the insured's dram shop recovery which exceeds the damages suffered by the insured. The Court stated, "The insured here argues that there is no consideration for the execution of the release and trust agreement because even receipt of the uninsured motorist insurance proceeds in the dram shop payment do not fully compensate him for his losses. This court has held that the purpose of uninsured motorist coverage is to place the victim of the uninsured motorist in the same position he would have occupied had the tortfeasor been insured. We, therefore, agree that, unless the insured was made whole, there was not consideration for his promise to reimburse the plaintiff."
[Author's Comment: This opinion was inadvertently omitted from previous supplements and is included now for completeness.]
