Farm Bureau allowed to enforce one-year limit on notice of Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Farm Bureau was allowed to avoid paying Uninsured Motorist benefits purchased by Robert M. Marshall by relying on Farm Bureau's insurance policy language requiring that notice of uninsured fault be provided the insurer within one year of suffering injury.  Marshall's attorneys had claimed that the one-year notice provision was illegal and unconscionable and relied heavily on the fact that the policy was not sent to Marshall until after he purchased it, frequently injury victims do not know that the at-fault is uninsured within one calendar year, and in many cases they do not even know that their injury is severe enough to meet the "life-altering" standard established in the Kreiner decision. 

The trial court found these arguments persuasive and denied Farm Bureau summary disposition, however, the Court of Appeals reversed and threw out Marshall's claim.  It relied heavily on several decisions issued by the "Engler Majority" several years ago:  those decisions essentially overturned Michigan law and denied relief to insureds who were issued insurance policies that contained provisions that defied the insured's "reasonable expectations."