The No-Fault Insurance Act allows a claimant to recover his or her attorney fees, where an insurer unreasonably refuses to pay or unreasonably delays in making proper payment. See MCL 500.3148(1). However, an insurer’s delay is not always automatically “unreasonable” where, for example, there are bona fide factual disputes about whether benefits are owed or not. In a recent case, the Court of Appeals determined that an insurer was not unreasonable in relying on the opinion of an “independent medical examiner” that the insurance company paid to examine and offer “expert” opinions about the claimant’s medical status. The court noted that the opinion of the insurance company’s doctor was supported by a substantial amount of medical information that could corroborate his opinion. The court noted that one hospital involved recommended no further treatment for the claimant, plus there was sufficient bona fide factual uncertainty as to whether the claimant was entitled to benefits. Thus, no award of attorney fees was appropriate under MCL 500.3148(1), even though the plaintiff prevailed at trial on his claims for PIP benefits. The case is Quick v Farm Bureau General Ins Co, unpublished Michigan Court of Appeals case 328006, decided September 22, 2016.
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