Insurance policies are nothing more than contracts. In doing this, the insurance carrier will rely on the insurance policy itself. Therefore, Progressive said it didn’t have to pay the no-fault claim.Ĭan insurance deny a claim? Unfortunately, Michigan insurance companies have been successful in getting out of paying claims using this material misrepresentation fraud defense. Rescinding an insurance policy is the same as if the insurance contract never existed in the first place. This despite the fact the missing person did not operate any of the policyholder’s vehicles and had his own car.īased on this material misrepresentation, Progressive rescinded the entire insurance policy. After initially accepting responsibility to pay the claim, Progressive denied the claim, arguing that because the policyholder (client’s father) did not disclose all household residents that were of driving range, a material misrepresentation was made. His family had insurance through Progressive. For example, in a recent case a client of ours was injured in a Detroit car accident. Our office has seen a number of examples of this recently. Using the information provided, the insurance carrier then denies the entire claim, alleging the policyholder misrepresented something when originally applying for insurance or misrepresented something involving any of the one of the vehicles listed in the policy. The carrier takes a statement from the injured person, a family member of the injured person, or the policyholder for the insurance company responsible for paying the claim. A no-fault claim for PIP benefits is made to the car insurance company. A person gets in a bad car accident and sustains injuries necessitating medical treatment. So, can insurance deny a claim? The denial by the insurance carriers follows a typical pattern.

These insurance companies, from Progressive to National General, argue that the material misrepresentation constitutes fraud, and based on this “fraud” they do not have to pay any outstanding no-fault benefits, including wage loss and medical expenses. Material Misrepresentation in Michigan Car Accident CasesĪ recent trend our law firm has seen this year is a number of Michigan car insurance carriers are denying otherwise valid no-fault PIP claims by alleging there was a material misrepresentation by the claimant or the policyholder.

Insurance binder progressive