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Detroit attorneys Kenneth Williams and Nina Rosenbach secured a favorable verdict for an insurance company in a high-risk case before the Wayne County Circuit Court.
The matter involved a high-speed accident in which the plaintiff was severely injured after the stolen vehicle in which he was riding as a passenger crashed into a tree. Plaintiff was joyriding in the stolen vehicle in contravention of the Michigan Statute.
Plaintiff thereafter sought Michigan No-Fault benefits and Uninsured Motorist Benefits through his mother’s automobile insurance carrier. The plaintiff’s mother had personal injury protection and uninsured motorist coverage through the defendant carrier.
During the application process for the insurance policy, the plaintiff’s mother failed to disclose that the plaintiff resided in her household. The mother as named insured denied that her son lived in the household and further claimed that she had no contact with him.
The mother changed her story after the accident and testified to the contrary in her deposition. Kenneth and Nina argued that because the plaintiff's mother intentionally failed to disclose the plaintiff as a resident relative when she applied for insurance, she committed fraud in violation of the policy terms. They further argued that the defendant carrier had properly rescinded the policy due to said fraud.
Kenneth and Nina also argued that equity required that the rescission be upheld against the plaintiff as well as his mother. The facts at trial established that the plaintiff participated in the theft of the vehicle and therefore contributed to the underlying injury causing event. Following a very difficult bench trial on these issues, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge agreed that the rescission was valid and that equity warranted that the Plaintiff could not recover benefits from the defendant under either the no-fault statute or the contract for uninsured motorist benefits.
