Stein v. Home-Owners Insurance

843 N.W.2d 780, 303 Mich. App. 382, 2013 Mich. App. LEXIS 2010
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 17, 2013
DocketDocket No. 310257
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 843 N.W.2d 780 (Stein v. Home-Owners Insurance) 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
Stein v. Home-Owners Insurance, 843 N.W.2d 780, 303 Mich. App. 382, 2013 Mich. App. LEXIS 2010 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

WILDER, J.

Defendant appeals as of right a judgment awarding plaintiff $199,399.79 for her claim for insurance proceeds related to the loss of her home because of a fire. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

[384]*384I. BASIC FACTS

Plaintiff owned a modular home located in Sumpter Township, Michigan. Plaintiffs property was covered for fire loss under an insurance policy issued by defendant. The policy, however, contained a provision that excluded any losses that were caused by “[a]n action by or at the direction of any insured committed with the intent to cause a loss.” The policy further provided:

This entire policy is void if, whether before, during or after a loss, any insured has:
a. intentionally concealed or misrepresented any material fact or circumstance;
b. engaged in fraudulent conduct; or
c. made false statements;
relating to this insurance.

On December 23, 2007, while plaintiff was not home, a neighbor saw a car pull into plaintiffs driveway and leave after approximately 10 minutes. Shortly thereafter, the neighbor saw that the home was on fire and called the fire department. A fire investigator testified that it was his opinion that the fire was intentionally set by an amateur. Defendant formally denied the claim in a letter on August 26, 2008. Defendant explained in the letter that it had determined that the fire occurred as a result of arson with plaintiffs knowledge or consent and that plaintiff made material misrepresentations during defendant’s investigation of her claim.

Plaintiff thereafter filed a complaint against defendant, alleging breach of contract. Defendant filed affirmative defenses, which included the following: plaintiff had committed acts of fraud and material misrepresentation, the loss was the result of arson committed by or at the direction of plaintiff, and plaintiff misrepresented material facts and concealed information.

[385]*385In October 2009, defendant filed a motion for summary disposition, which was granted.1 However, this Court reversed the trial court’s order and remanded the matter to the trial court for further proceedings, concluding that whether plaintiff had made any misrepresentations was a question of fact for the trier of fact. Stein v Home-Owners Ins Co, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued April 12, 2011 (Docket No. 295876), p 2.

At trial, the trial court, despite defendant’s objections, repeatedly instructed the jury that defendant had the burden of proving its affirmative defenses by clear and convincing evidence. During the preliminary instructions, the trial court stated:

On the following propositions defendant has the burden of proof:
One, that the fire was intentionally set.
Two, that the plaintiff made misrepresentations with the intent to defraud.
And [three], that plaintiff failed to mitigate her damages.
On these listed propositions, the defendant must prove them by clear and convincing evidence.
This means that the defendant must do more than merely persuade you that the proposition is properly [sic] true. To be clear and convincing[,] the evidence must be strong enough to cause you to have a clear and firm belief that the proposition is true.

This instruction was also repeated to the jury after the proofs were concluded and before the jury began its [386]*386deliberations. Additionally, the trial court stated the following:

The defendant Home-Owners claims that the plaintiff attempted to defraud it. To establish fraud the defendant has the burden of proving each of the following elements by clear and convincing evidence.
A, plaintiff made a representation of material facts.
B, the representation of material facts that plaintiff made was false when made.
C, plaintiff knew that the representations were false when she made them.
D, plaintiff made the representations with the intent that the defendant rely upon the representations.
Your verdict will be for the defendant on the defense of fraud if you decide that defendant has proved each of these elements by clear and convincing evidence.

The trial court provided a similar instruction for the intentional-act exclusion: “Defendant Home-Owners has the burden of proving the application of [the intentional-act] exclusion by clear and convincing evidence.”

After deliberating, the jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff, and defendant’s appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

Defendant argues that the trial court instructed the jury on an incorrect burden of proof with regard to defendant’s position that the contract precluded plaintiff from recovering any benefits. We agree.

Defendant preserved this issue by objecting to the jury instruction in the trial court. Jimkoski v Shupe, 282 Mich App 1, 9; 763 NW2d 1 (2008). Whether the trial court’s instruction on the applicable burden of proof was proper is a question law that this Court [387]*387reviews de novo. Hilgendorf v St John Hosp & Med Ctr Corp, 245 Mich App 670, 694-695; 630 NW2d 356 (2001).

At issue is the provision in the insurance contract that would exempt plaintiffs loss from coverage and the provision that would void the contract in its entirety. The provisions are as follows:

We do not cover loss to covered property caused directly or indirectly by any of the following, whether or not any other cause or event contributes concurrently or in any sequence to the loss:

(9) An action by or at the direction of any insured committed with the intent to cause a loss.
This entire policy is void if, whether before, during or after a loss, any insured has:
a. intentionally concealed or misrepresented any material fact or circumstance;
b. engaged in fraudulent conduct; or
c. made false statements;
relating to this insurance.

When it instructed the jury, the trial court required that, in order for defendant to prevail on the basis of any of these contractual provisions, defendant had to establish the presence of such a defense through clear and convincing evidence. This was erroneous.

This case involves the application of express provisions of a contract. The fact that one of the contract’s provisions contains aspects of fraud is no reason, in and of itself, to place a higher burden of proof on the defense [388]*388than on any other affirmative defense. While “fraud” is one of the traditional defenses to a contract, Majestic Golf, LLC v Lake Walden Country Club, Inc, 297 Mich App 305, 326; 823 NW2d 610 (2012), this avoidance defense is typically used when “a contract is obtained

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
843 N.W.2d 780, 303 Mich. App. 382, 2013 Mich. App. LEXIS 2010, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stein-v-home-owners-insurance-michctapp-2013.