Ar Therapy Services Inc v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company

STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

AR THERAPY SERVICES, INC., UNPUBLISHED

June 14, 2016 Plaintiff, and FARM BUREAU MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF MICHIGAN,

Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff- Appellee, v No. 322339

Oakland Circuit Court PROGRESSIVE MARATHON INSURANCE LC No. 2014-138769-AV COMPANY,

Third-Party Defendant-Appellant, and DOMINIQUE WILLIAMS

Third-Party Defendant.

Before: SAWYER, P.J., and BECKERING and BOONSTRA, JJ.

BECKERING, J. (concurring).

I concur in the majority opinion because I am bound by this Court’s ruling in Bazzi v Sentinel Ins Co, __ Mich App __; __ NW2d __ (2016). Were I not bound by that ruling, however, I would conclude that our Supreme Court’s decision in Titan Ins Co v Hyten, 491 Mich 547; 817 NW2d 562 (2012), which dealt with contractually-based, excess liability coverage and the easily ascertainable rule, does not adversely impact the innocent third-party rule with respect to statutorily mandated no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) benefits. As such, I would affirm the circuit court’s ruling (which affirmed the district court’s ruling) that Progressive Marathon Insurance Company may not rescind its insurance policy that was in place at the time of the accident at issue and covered first-party PIP benefits for Christopher Carmichael, as he was injured while a passenger in an automobile insured by Progressive.

/s/ Jane M. Beckering