Confusion lingers after signing of auto insurance bill.

Byline: Thomas Franz

Following the signing of a new auto insurance bill that will change the way drivers select insurance coverage, no-fault and insurance defense attorneys have questions and concerns about how the bill will influence cases stemming from car accidents in the future.

Attorneys on both sides of typical no-fault cases said the bill leaves many holes that will need to be filled by opinions and appeals in the near future.

"I think we're going to be exceedingly busy, and one of the reasons is this bill was drafted in the middle of the night and is so poorly written, it is going to take years to sort out," said Nicholas Andrews, a partner at Liss, Seder & Andrews PC in Bloomfield Hills.

Insurance defense attorney Adam Fadly of Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC in Southfield explained that while the new levels of coverage take effect in July 2020 and the new fee schedule takes effect in July 2021, the bill is silent on how its new provisions will apply effective May 30, 2019, as to the order of priority as it relates to qualifications of independent medical examinations that are ordered by insurance companies.

"The question that remains is do these changes, are they applied to accidents that occurred before May 30 or only to benefits that occurred after May 30? That's something defense attorneys will have to take a look at," Fadly said.

The bill was signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on May 30.

One component that has Andrews concerned relates to the prompt-payment-of-benefits statute in the old law, which required an insurance company to pay a benefit within 30 days of receiving reasonable proof of the amount of loss sustained.

"Under this new approach, there appears to be many more layers of bureaucracy that almost turned that concept on its head," Andrews said. "Lawyers and claimants navigating that bureaucracy, it's going to be far more difficult."

Stephen Sinas, a no-fault attorney with Sinas Dramis Law Firm in Lansing, said the new law allows people who are drawing no-fault benefits under capped policies to pursue their excess medical and excess work loss from at-fault drivers. That aspect of the new law will lead to much more litigation, Sinas said.

"There is a huge financial exposure that every Michigan driver has now under the law, and they will have to pay more in their liability insurance," Sinas said. "I predict the law will result in a fault-finding frenzy that will take place in our courts regarding any auto accident...

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