Inequity’s Inapplicable: Undisputed Evidence of First-Party Fraud Warrants Policy Rescission

In Josef Petrous v Everest Nat’l Ins. Co., unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued July 26, 2018 (Docket No. 337310), the Michigan Court of Appeals reaffirmed an insurance company’s entitlement to rescission and summary disposition where the undisputed evidence showed that Plaintiff committed fraud in his application for insurance. The Court reiterated the standard for assessing motions for summary disposition in first party fraudulent misrepresentation cases, and specifically denounced as incorrect the trial court’s application of inequity and recklessness in determining the outcome of Defendant’s motion.