Michigan PIP Benefits Not Payable Until Expenses Are Actually Incurred
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently issued an instructive decision regarding the distribution of PIP benefits for losses that an injured person has not yet incurred. In a consolidated case before the Michigan Court of Appeals, Plaintiff appellants, Michigan Head & Spine Institute, PC and McLaren Macomb appealed the trial court’s order granting Defendant, Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company’s, Motion to interplead funds and apportioning the available funds between the providers. One of the issues before the Michigan Court of Appeals was the apportionment of future attendant-care benefits to the Plaintiff.
The trial court concluded that the Plaintiff’s expected lifetime care benefits should be “considered incurred” for purposes of apportionment because of Plaintiff’s “undisputed need for lifetime attendant care services.” Under the Michigan No-Fault Act, PIP benefits for accidental bodily injury accrue not when the injury occurs, but as the allowable expense, work loss or survivors’ loss is actually incurred. As a result, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that the trial court improperly awarded PIP benefits for future attendant-care expenses that Plaintiff had not incurred.
The Court of Appeals noted the trial court was not precluded from considering the projected nature of Plaintiff’s costs when distributing funds. The trial court retains broad equitable discretion to consider a Plaintiff’s ongoing needs. However, a court may not treat future expenses as incurred when they plainly have not yet arisen. As a result, the trial court’s ruling was reversed, and the case was remanded back to the trial court.
This case provides legal authority for an insurer or its counsel to decline to pay future, not yet incurred, PIP expenses. The case can also be used to support a Motion In Limine seeking to exclude evidence of future, not yet incurred, PIP expenses in an auto-negligence case.
Read entire case at:
Michigan Head & Spine Inst., PC v. Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co.
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Attorney Peter A. Angelas represents defendants in civil liability litigation across Michigan. His practice areas include insurance defense litigation, premises liability, motor carrier (trucking) defense, corporate and commercial litigation, construction defect litigation, auto negligence, insurance coverage disputes, emergency casualty response services, alternative dispute resolution, subrogation claims, workers’ compensation, employment law, and liquor liability.
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