An appellate court in Michigan, reversing a trial court’s decision, has ruled that an insurer did not have to pay no-fault personal protection insurance (“PIP”) benefits to its insured who allegedly was injured while using a charity’s truck to pick up donated goods.
The Case
Patrick A. Coulter, who volunteered with Associated Charities of Lenawee County and was using the charity’s box truck to pick up a pallet of donated canned goods from a Walmart in Adrian, Michigan, allegedly was injured when an employee inadvertently closed a garage door on his head.
Mr. Coulter sought PIP benefits from his insurer, the Auto Club Insurance Association.
The Auto Club denied the claim, and Mr. Coulter sued.
The Auto Club moved for summary disposition, contending, among other things, that Mr. Coulter was not entitled to PIP benefits because his injury did not arise out of the ownership, operation, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle.
The trial court denied the motion, and the Auto Club appealed.
The Appellate Court’s Decision
The appellate court reversed.
In its decision, the appellate court found that the causal connection between Mr. Coulter’s injury and the use of the box truck as a motor vehicle “was not more than incidental, fortuitous, or but for.”
The appellate court reasoned that Mr. Coulter was not involved in a motor vehicle accident; was not injured while physically loading or unloading the box truck; and was not injured by any item that was being transported by the box truck.
Rather, the appellate court added, Mr. Coulter was injured “when a Walmart employee pulled the cord for the garage door and the garage door hit his head.” In the appellate court’s view, the garage door “was a force independent of the box truck and its transportational function.”
That the box truck was being used as a motor vehicle at the time of Mr. Coulter’s injury “was not more than incidental, fortuitous, or but for,” the appellate court stated.
It concluded, therefore, that the trial court had erred by denying Auto Club’s motion for summary disposition.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].