Action for uninsured or underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage & personal protection insurance (PIP) benefits; Appellate jurisdiction; Failure to reserve right to appeal in a stipulated order of dismissal; Jaber v P & P Hospitality, LLC (Jaber II)

In this insurance dispute, the court held that it lacked jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ appeal because they did not “reserve their right to appeal in the stipulated order of dismissal.” They sought UM/UIM coverage and PIP benefits from defendant-insurer for a hit-and-run accident. On defendant’s motion for partial summary disposition, the trial court dismissed the UM/UIM claims. The parties continued litigating the “PIP claims but ultimately stipulated to dismissal. The stipulated order provided that plaintiffs’ claims were dismissed with prejudice, but did not include any reservation of appellate rights.” On appeal, the court reviewed its decision in Jaber II and noted that, unlike in that case, defendant here “was a party to the stipulated order. Thus, it was entitled to claim protection under the contract as a party. The stipulated order of dismissal” stated that plaintiffs’ claims against defendant “‘are dismissed with prejudice and without costs and fees to the parties.’ The parties used broad language in dismissing plaintiffs’ ‘claims’ against defendant—a party to the stipulated order—with prejudice. Plaintiffs’ ‘claims’ against defendant included both their UM/UIM claims and their PIP claims. Thus, when plaintiffs stipulated to the dismissal of their ‘claims’ against defendant, the stipulation applied to their PIP claims as well as their UM/UIM claims previously dismissed.” Given that they “consented to dismiss their ‘claims’ against defendant with prejudice and did not reserve any appellate rights, they cannot challenge the trial court’s decisions with respect to any of these ‘claims’ on appeal.” Dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.