If you, your family or friends have been injured in a slip and fall or trip and fall accident within the last 3 years, call the BLG because the law has recently changed in Michigan and even if other lawyers have told you in the past that you do not have a case, Bill Boyer can win your case and get you the compensation you deserve.
The Michigan Court of Appeals, in its recently published decision, Encompass Healthcare, PLLC v. Citizens Insurance Company, COA No. 357225, November 17, 2022, provided some clarity to applying Michigan No-Fault Act’s “one year back rule” after the 2019 No-Fault reforms.
Traditionally, Michigan’s “one year back rule” limited an injured person’s recovery in first party No-Fault case to those losses that occurred no further back than within the year before the filing of the lawsuit. This rule was designed to encourage injured parties to timely pursue claims against insurers while evidence was fresh. Until 2005, Michigan courts applied a judicially created tolling mechanism not present in the actual language of the No-Fault Act which tolled the application of the “one year back rule” until a No-Fault claim was formally denied by the insurer. This meant you could claim no fault benefits incurred more than one year before filing the lawsuit if the insurance company did not formally deny your claim. This came to an end in 2005 when the Michigan Supreme Court’s held becaue the tolling provision was not in the statute, it could no longer be applied and barred all claims for benefits owed to insureds even if the claimed benefit was not formally denied.
However, as part of the 2019 No-Fault reforms, Michigan’s legislature codified the previous tolling mechanism in its amended version of MCL 500.3145, which now provides that the “one year back rule” is “tolled from the date of a specific claim for payment of the benefits until the date the insurer formally denies the claim.” MCL 500.3145(3).
This means even if the insurance company has not paid benefits owed to you that were incurred more than one year before you file a lawsuit, you can still sue the insurance company if they have not formally and specifically denied your claim.
If you think you might be owed such no fault benefits call Bill Boyer at the Boyer Law Group to get the Boyer Promise. 586-333-HELP or 586-731-7400
