Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 242870; Unpublished
Judges Wilder, Griffin, and Cooper; unanimous; per curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not applicable, Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Cancellation and Rescission of Insurance Policies
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous unpublished per curiam opinion, the Court of Appeals held that under MCL 500.3020(1)(a), an insurance policy “may be cancelled at any time at the request of the insured,” and that the request may be made orally or in writing, and that it is effective on the date given. Therefore, in this case, the Court of Appeals held that when the insured person requested that the subject vehicle, which was formerly on a commercial automobile policy, was to be placed back on the insured person’s personal automobile insurance policy, this effectively cancelled the defendant’s commercial policy on the vehicle.
Plaintiff Schaaf formed a business with another party, and then took her 1989 GMC Jimmy from her personal automobile insurance policy with Cincinnati Insurance Company and placed it on the business commercial policy with defendant Auto-Owners. Payment was made to cover the first three months of the Auto-Owners’ commercial policy. No further payments were remitted to Auto-Owners after the first three months. Subsequently, the business relationship deteriorated and the business was closed. Schaaf then telephoned her agent and informed the agent of the business closure and requested that the 1989 GMC Jimmy be placed back on her personal automobile insurance policy. Auto-Owners then subsequently sent a notice of cancellation for non-payment under the policy to the business address. Subsequently, the vehicle was involved in an automobile accident. Plaintiffs claimed that Auto-Owners’ failure to mail notice of the cancellation to the most current address known by its agent, rendered the cancellation ineffective.
The Court of Appeals held that the provisions of MCL 500.3020(1)(a) allow an insured to cancel a policy at any time. Cancellation is effective on the date the agent is orally informed by the insured. Written notice of cancellation from the insurer is only required where the insurer, and not the insured, decides to cancel a policy. MCL 500.3020(1)(b).
