Mich. Crash Case Raises Queries about Insurance on Scooters

What You Require to Know:

• A man is in search of rewards from insurers in Michigan for injuries sustained when a automobile hit him in his motorized scooter.


• The insurers are refusing payment and say that the man’s motorized scooter was a motor vehicle, and should have been insured like a personal automobile.


• Lawyers told On the internet Auto Insurance News (OAIN) that, if insurers win on their argument, users of motorized scooters and wheelchair could be necessary to acquire vehicle insurance coverage.

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People in Michigan who use scooters and motorized wheelchairs could be necessary to get auto insurance coverage if courts rule in favor of the insurer in an ongoing case.

The court case could have implications for thousands of users of scooters and motorized wheelchairs in the state, attorney Harold Perakis told the Macomb Day-to-day this month. Perakis represents George Veness, a 63-year-old man who was riding his scooter when struck by an at-fault auto in 2012.

The Legal Argument

At the center of this court case is a fundamental question about automobile insurance coverage: what constitutes a automobile? Other cases around the U.S. have raised concerns of regardless of whether or not other modes of transport—like motorized scooters and wheelchairs and modified golf carts—require typical car insurance coverage and if rewards of that common coverage apply when they crash.

Associated Story: Fla. Court: Insurer Should Cover Injuries in Modified Golf-Cart Crash

In the Michigan case, Veness is in search of compensation for about $ 2 million in health-related bills, including remedy for neck and back injuries and in-house care.

According to the Every day, State Farm and Farm Bureau of Michigan reduce off injury advantages for Veness, arguing in court that his scooter is a vehicle and, beneath that classification, should be covered as such with Michigan auto insurance coverage.

According to the Everyday, State Farm lawyer Timothy Groustra said in a legal short that Veness’ “failure to receive PIP (personal insurance protection) on his scooter indicates that (state law) bars him from recovering PIP benefits from State Farm.”

On the other hand, Veness’ attorney responded with a legal filing citing state law that “does not and has never recognized that an electrically-operated wheelchair is a ‘motor automobile.’” According to the Every day, Perakis also stated that Michigan law’s definition of a motor automobile “does not include an electric individual assistive mobility device.”

Attorney: Case Has Wide Implications

Steve Gursten, a lawyer at Michigan Auto Law, spoke with OAIN right after blogging about the case.

A court ruling in favor of State Farm and Farm Bureau would mean that “motorized wheelchairs are the equivalent of cars and trucks for auto insurance coverage purposes,” Gursten said to OAIN. That categorization would imply customers of motorized wheelchairs are technically “uninsured drivers” who are denied each the positive aspects of coverage and particular rights in court when they are injured in crashes.

In effect, according to Gursten, those people “will be forced to go out and obtain Michigan No-Fault auto insurance for their motorized wheelchairs.”

“For these folks, many of whom are already on really tight budgets, this will be a substantial, monetary burden,” Gursten told OAIN.

Gursten also updated OAIN with the newest on the case in Macomb County Circuit Court. Both State Farm and Farm Bureau of Michigan submitted motions in which they contended that the case ought to be dismissed because Veness was owed no advantages. State Farm has given that withdrawn the motion.

The case is subsequent set for a “status conference” in September, according to Gurs8.

In an additional weblog post, Gursten stated his analysis identified no present merchandise or coverage alternatives for motorized wheelchairs at State Farm or Farm Bureau.

Mich. Crash Case Raises Queries about Insurance on Scooters