Bazzi v. Sentinel Insurance Company

891 N.W.2d 13, 315 Mich. App. 763
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 14, 2016
DocketDocket 320518
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 891 N.W.2d 13 (Bazzi v. Sentinel Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bazzi v. Sentinel Insurance Company, 891 N.W.2d 13, 315 Mich. App. 763 (Mich. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

SAWYER, P. J.

We are asked in this case to determine whether the so-called “innocent third party” rule, which this Court established in State Farm Mut Auto [768]*768Ins Co v Kurylowicz,1 survived our Supreme Court’s decision in Titan Ins Co v Hyten.2 We conclude that it did not.

Plaintiff, Ali Bazzi (plaintiff), is seeking to recover personal protection insurance (PIP) benefits for injuries he sustained in an automobile accident while driving a vehicle owned by third-party defendant Hala Bazzi (plaintiffs mother).3 Intervening plaintiffs, Genex Physical Therapy, Inc., Elite Chiropractic Center, PC, and Transmedic, LLC, are healthcare providers who provided services to plaintiff as a result of those injuries and are seeking payment for those services. The vehicle driven by Bazzi was insured under a commercial automobile policy issued by defendant Sentinel Insurance to Mimo Investments, LLC.4 Sentinel maintains that the policy was fraudulently procured by Hala Bazzi and third-party defendant Mariam Bazzi (plaintiffs sister and the resident agent for Mimo Investments) in order to obtain a lower premium because of plaintiffs involvement in a prior accident. Sentinel maintains that the vehicle was actually leased to Hala Bazzi for personal and family use, not for commercial use by Mimo, and, in fact, that Mimo was essentially a shell company, which had no assets or employees or was not otherwise engaged in actual business activity. Sentinel also alleges as fraud that the third-party defendants failed to disclose plaintiff would be a regular driver of the vehicle. In fact, [769]*769Sentinel pursued a third-party complaint against Hala and Mariam Bazzi, seeking to rescind the policy on the basis of fraud in the application.5

Sentinel thereafter moved for summary disposition of plaintiffs claim against Sentinel for PIP benefits, as well as the intervening plaintiffs’ claims because the policy was rescinded on the basis of fraud. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that plaintiff had a claim because of the innocent-third-party rule.6 Sentinel sought leave to appeal in this Court, which we denied.7 Sentinel then sought leave to appeal in the Supreme Court, which, in lieu of granting leave, remanded the matter to this Court for consideration as on leave granted.8 We now reverse the decision of the trial court and remand the matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The standard of review to be applied here was set forth, as follows, in Titan:9

This Court reviews de novo a trial court’s decision on a motion for summary disposition. Shepherd Montessori Ctr Milan v Ann Arbor Charter Twp, 486 Mich 311, 317; 783 NW2d 695 (2010). In addition, the proper interpretation of a statute is a question of law that this Court reviews de novo. Eggleston v Bio-Med Applications of Detroit, Inc, 468 Mich 29, 32; 658 NW2d 139 (2003). The proper interpretation of a contract is also a question of law that this Court reviews de novo. Rory v Continental Ins Co, 473 Mich 457, 464; 703 NW2d 23 (2005).

[770]*770Resolution of this case begins and ultimately ends with our Supreme Court’s decision in Titan. Although Titan did not involve a no-fault insurance claim for PIP benefits, we nonetheless are convinced that Titan compels the conclusion that the innocent-third-party rule does not apply to a claim for those benefits. That is, if an insurer is entitled to rescind a no-fault insurance policy because of fraud, it is not obligated to pay any benefits under that policy, including PIP benefits to a third party innocent of the fraud.

In Titan, the insurer sought a declaratory judgment on the basis that, because of fraud in the application, it had no duty to indemnify its insureds in a claim brought by third parties injured in an automobile accident with Titan’s insureds.10 The injured parties and their insurer maintained that Titan could not avoid liability to the innocent third parties because the fraud was easily ascertainable. While this Court agreed because of our earlier decision in Kurylowicz, the Supreme Court disagreed and overruled Kurylow-icz and its progeny.11

Plaintiff and defendant Citizens argue that the decision in Titan does not apply to this case for two reasons: Titan did not involve mandatory PIP benefits, and it only considered the “easily ascertainable fraud” rule and not the “innocent third party” rule. These are the essential arguments in this case because if Titan does not apply here, then there is binding precedent of this Court in which we applied the innocent-third-[771]*771party rule to no-fault PIP cases.12 On the other hand, if Titan does apply, then we are certainly obligated to follow a recent Supreme Court decision over an older decision of this Court. But, after careful analysis, we are not persuaded that either of these arguments provides a basis for distinguishing Titan, and therefore we conclude that Sentinel is not obligated to pay no-fault benefits to plaintiff if Sentinel establishes that the policy was procured by fraud.

We first consider whether there is a distinction between the easily-ascertainable-fraud rule discussed in Titan and the innocent-third-party rule advanced in this case. We conclude that they are one and the same.

While Titan consistently referred to the easily-ascertainable-fraud rule set forth in Kurylowicz, it and the so-called innocent-third-party rule are not separate and distinct rules. As stated by the Titan Court:

The principal question presented in this case is whether an insurer may avail itself of traditional legal and equitable remedies to avoid liability under an insurance policy on the ground of fraud in the application for insurance, when the fraud was easily ascertainable and the claimant is a third party.[13]

Therefore, the focus of Titan was not merely on the ascertainability of the fraud; it was also relevant that the case involved a third-party claimant. Indeed, the substance of Kurylowicz was that both conditions had to apply before the insurer was prevented from raising a fraud defense. This point was recognized by the Supreme Court in Titan when it observed that “when it is the insured who seeks benefits under an insurance [772]*772policy procured through fraud, even an easily ascertainable fraud will not preclude an insurer from availing itself of traditional legal and equitable remedies to avoid liability.”14

In sum, Titan recognized that the rule in Kurylowicz only applied if the fraud was easily ascertainable and involved an innocent third party. Moreover, it would make no sense to conclude that an insurer has no liability if the fraud is easily ascertainable, but would retain liability if the fraud was not easily ascertainable.15

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
891 N.W.2d 13, 315 Mich. App. 763, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bazzi-v-sentinel-insurance-company-michctapp-2016.