John, a self-employed trucker, injures himself fixing his rig "Betsy" (1st PIP claim). Later, he's hurt again when a mechanic's shuttle van crashes (2nd PIP claim). Two accidents, two PIP claims—one while working, one as a passenger—make for a rough day.
Notable Timestamps
[ 00:17 ] - John has two injury claims in Michigan: a slip and fall while working on his truck (Injury 1) and being rearended while a passenger in a mechanic's shuttle van (Injury 2).
[ 01:02 ] - Michigan was once the most expensive state for car insurance but has fallen to the sixth most expensive according to insure.com as of May 25. Which was the cheapest?
[ 02:22 ] - Michigan's standard PIP statute under MCL § 500.3114 dictates that the named insured generally collects benefits under their own auto insurance policy, not the policy covering the vehicle involved in the accident.
[ 02:49 ] - There are exceptions to the Michigan PIP priority rule, including when an insured is injured as an occupant of a vehicle owned by or registered to their employer or while a passenger in a vehicle used in the business of transporting passengers.
[ 04:04 ] - For John's first injury (slip and fall), regarding the "owned by employer" exception, a Michigan appellate court in the reviewed case held the truck was owned by both John (the driver/title holder) and the leasing company (Shoulder Trucking).
[ 05:36 ] - The court in this scenario found that he was an employee of himself as an independent contractor, leading his commercial insurance carrier to take priority.
[ 07:09 ] - For John's second injury (shuttle van), the key statutory exception language relates to being a passenger in a vehicle "used in the business of transporting passengers".
[ 07:52 ] - The phrase "in the business of transporting passengers" is construed in Michigan using a two-prong test from a seminal case: 1) whether transporting passengers was the primary purpose for the vehicle's use, and 2) whether the transportation was incidental to the overall business or activity.
[ 08:55 ] - Applying the two-prong test to the mechanic's shuttle van involves considering factors like whether the service was free (suggesting incidental) or regularly offered (suggesting primary purpose or not incidental). The court in the case discussed did not decide this issue for the shuttle van, sending it back to the finder of fact.
[ 09:39 ] - Brennan provides a recap of the scenario and the points above.
Your PLRB Resources
Case Law Review: Smith v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. of Mich. (2025) https://www.plrb.org/documents/smith-v-farm-bureau-mut-ins-co-of-mich-2025/
Case Law Review: Miclea v. Cherokee Ins. Co. https://www.plrb.org/documents/miclea-v-cherokee-ins-co/
PLRB State-By-State Survey on PIP, Michigan → "Priority" https://www.plrb.org/documents/michigan-pip-compendium/#priority
Case Law Review: Bender v. USAA Gen. Indem. Co. (2025) https://www.plrb.org/documents/bender-v-usaa-gen-indem-co-2025/
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