IT'S MICHIGAN, INSURER'S WIN: Auto Club delays processing payment; avoids insurance obligation.

Staunch Republican judge Kirsten F. Kelly, the insurer's best friend, out-did herself this week.  Steve Daniel needed mandatory no fault coverage to drive and couldn't afford it.  Rather than drive without coverage, he borrowed the premium from a friend, who made a direct payment to the Auto Club on Daniel's behalf at 10:46 am.  Daniel went ahead with his errand and was involved in a car accident at 11:00.  When he filed his claim, however, the Auto Club denied payment because it's records showed that it did not process Daniel's payment until 11:02. 

Even though Daniel's friend produced a bank receipt showing that the payment was made at 10:46, Judge Kelly and two other Republican stalwarts upheld the lower court's ruling that Daniel was not insured at the time of the collision.  They also held that it was irrelevant that the Auto Club never rescinded the policy or refunded the premium to Daniel. So the Auto Club gets to keep the premium it recieved before the incident, but doesn't need to pay the related claim, because it did not "process" the payment until two minutes after the collision. It's Michigan:  in our state, insurer's win.