Jesperson v. Auto Club Insurance Association, 499 Mich. 29

On May 12, 2009 Alan Jesperson was injured in a motorcycle collision. ACIA was notified June 2, 2010 and began paying no-fault (PIP) benefits July 23, 2010 — more than one year after the accident.
Jesperson sued the at-fault driver(s) and later amended to add ACIA after the insurer stopped benefits.
ACIA moved for summary disposition just before trial, arguing Jesperson’s claim was time-barred by the one-year limitations period in MCL 500.3145(1).
The trial court granted summary disposition for ACIA; the Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the payment exception applies only if payment occurred within one year after the accident.
The Michigan Supreme Court granted leave, considered whether a payment made more than one year after the accident satisfies the statutory exception, and reserved waiver arguments as unnecessary if the payment exception applied.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the word “previously” in the payment exception of MCL 500.3145(1) means prior to filing (allowing suit when insurer paid at any time before the action)	“Previously” means prior to commencement of the action; any insurer payment before suit satisfies exception	“Previously” means before the one-year anniversary of the accident; payment after one year does not satisfy exception	The Court held “previously” means prior to commencement of the action; a pre-suit payment at any time satisfies the exception
Whether the insurer waived the one-year limitations defense by pleading it late	Jesperson argued waiver because ACIA raised the defense for the first time in summary-disposition motion	ACIA argued it had not waived the affirmative defense	Moot — Court resolved the statutory-interpretation issue and declined to decide waiver

Joseph v. Auto Club Ins. Ass'n, 491 Mich 200 (statutory interpretation and de novo review)
Driver v. Naini, 490 Mich 239 (start with plain language in statutory interpretation)
Johnson v. Pastoriza, 491 Mich 417 (Legislative intent from statutory words)
Hannay v. Dep’t of Transp., 497 Mich 45 (avoid interpretations that render statutory language surplusage)
Robinson v. Detroit, 462 Mich 439 (give meaning to choice of words/articles)
People v. Kowalski, 489 Mich 488 (meaning of disjunctive “or”)
Badeen v. PAR, Inc., 496 Mich 75 (disjunctive statutory phrases create alternatives)
Devillers v. Auto Club Ins. Ass'n, 473 Mich 562 (§ 3145(1) limits recoverable losses to one year before filing)
People v. Richmond, 486 Mich 29 (court generally avoids moot questions)