Auto insurance policy coverage; Applicable bodily injury liability limits; MCL 500.3009(1)(a); Progressive Marathon Ins Co v Pena; Effect of the policy’s resident relative exclusion; Progressive Marathon Ins Co v Espinoza-Solis; MemberSelect Ins Co v Partipilo

Holding that the trial court did not err in ruling that the applicable liability limits were $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident, the court affirmed summary disposition for defendant-insured (Ludvik). The case arose after an auto accident in which Ludvik’s minor daughter (AP) was a passenger in a car owned and operated by her older brother, defendant-Christian. They were resident relatives under the terms of their parents’ insurance policy with plaintiff-MemberSelect. The policy was issued after 7/2/20. It indicated that it “included bodily injury liability limits of $250,000 per individual and $500,000 per accident.” Ludvik filed a third-party negligence action against Christian on AP’s behalf. Plaintiff filed this action for declaratory relief, seeking a declaration “that the resident relative exclusion applied and . . . that it was only obligated to indemnify Christian against Ludvik’s claims up to $50,000 per individual.” The crux of plaintiff’s argument was “whether the policy’s resident relative exclusion limits the minimum liability coverage to $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident under MCL 500.3009(5), or $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident under MCL 500.3009(1)(a).” The court considered its recent published decisions in Espinoza-Solis and Partipilo. It noted that as was the case with the policy issued to Ludvik and his wife here, the policy between the insured and the “insurer in Partipilo excluded bodily injury coverage for resident relatives ‘in excess of the minimum limit mandated by the motor vehicle financial responsibility law of Michigan.’ . . . The Partipilo Court, largely relying on the reasoning in Espinoza-Solis, concluded that ‘[w]hile the coverage issue in Espinoza-Solis concerned noncooperation by the insured compared with the present case involving the household exclusion, that distinction does not affect the ultimate conclusion’ that under MCL 500.3009(1)(a), the statutorily required minimum bodily injury liability coverage for policies issued after [7/1/20], is $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident, unless the insured opted for lower coverage in accordance with MCL 500.3009(5).” There was no evidence that Ludvik did this. He “expressly denied doing so in his affidavit. Because MemberSelect offers no evidence to the contrary, and both Espinoza-Solis and Partipilo” were binding, the court concluded the trial court did not err in this case.