Owner’s Loss: Supreme Court Issues Guidance on Ownership Under the No-Fault Act

In Abdulla v Progressive, the Supreme Court denied no-fault benefits to a commercial driver who owned an uninsured truck. In doing so, the Court reversed the lower court, which awarded benefits despite the truck’s lack of insurance because it was technically titled to an LLC, albeit an LLC that the driver solely owned. The Supreme Court looked past this overly formalistic distinction, explaining that MCL 500.3101(3)(l) of the no-fault act defines “owner” to include any person “having the use of a motor vehicle…for a period that is greater than 30 days,” and Abdulla’s right to use the vehicle as the LLC’s only member was never in question.NFN re Abdulla v Progressive Southeastern