Cheema v. Progressive Marathon Ins. Co.
| Docket Number | 355910 |
| Decision Date | 02 June 2022 |
| Parties | HARRIS CHEEMA and OVERLAND TRANSPORTATION, LLC, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PROGRESSIVE MARATHON INSURANCE COMPANY and STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendants-Appellees, and GOLDEN INSURANCE AGENCY, LLC, and SAM SAEIDI, Defendants. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US |
UNPUBLISHED
Wayne Circuit Court LC Nos. 18-014071-NF; 19-003321-NF
Before: Jansen, P.J., and Cameron and Rick, JJ.
In this dispute over no-fault insurance benefits, plaintiffs, Harris Cheema and Overland Transportation, LLC (Overland), appeal by right the trial court's order dismissing their claims against Progressive Marathon Insurance Company (Progressive) and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm). Because we conclude that there were questions of fact that had to be resolved before the trial court could determine whether Progressive could properly rescind the policy at issue, and a question of fact as to whether Cheema was an owner of the motor vehicle involved in the accident the trial court erred when it dismissed Cheema's claims against Progressive and State Farm under MCR 2.116(C)(10). Accordingly, we dismiss in part, affirm in part, reverse and vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Cheema is the sole owner of Overland. Overland is a medical transportation company that transports patients to and from medical appointments. For the most part, insurance companies paid fees to Overland for the services that it provided. Cheema managed Overland and also worked as one of its drivers. Overland provided its drivers with its vehicles to transport passengers, and Cheema would sometimes run personal errands while on the way to or from a transport.
Cheema first went to Golden Insurance Agency, LLC, to purchase a commercial insurance policy for Overland's vehicles in 2017. When purchasing the policy, Cheema stated that he explained "in detail" to the agent what his business did. Cheema claimed that he had the same discussion when he purchased the new policy with Progressive in 2018. After describing his business, the agent suggested a particular policy, and Cheema accepted that policy.
Sam Saeidi testified that he was the writing agent who handled Cheema's purchase of the Progressive policy. Saeidi stated that Cheema told him that his business offered a courtesy shuttle and did not collect any fees for its service.[1] Saeidi stated that he explained to Cheema what the phrase "transportation for hire" meant. Saeidi denied that Cheema ever told him that Overland billed insurance companies or workers' compensation for its transportation services. Saeidi was under the impression that Overland was a "not-for-profit" business and that Overland did not collect money for its services.
Cheema signed an application for insurance on behalf of Overland. The policy application represented that Overland did not transport passengers for hire. Specifically, the insurance application included the following question: "Does the insured ever transport passengers for hire?" Cheema answered: "No." The insurance quote also noted that Overland's business type was "Passenger Transportation (Not For Hire)." Cheema did not recall having a discussion with the agent about whether his business was a transportation-for-hire business. Cheema denied misrepresenting the nature of his business to the agent or telling the agent that Overland provided passengers with a courtesy shuttle only. Cheema stated that he thought that Overland was not a business that engaged in transportation for hire because Overland did not receive payment from people it transported. Rather, Overland was paid by third parties. Cheema thought that the agent correctly completed the application on the basis of the information that he provided and he signed the application.
On April 24, 2018, Cheema was operating one of Overland's vehicles for personal reasons and was involved in an accident. He injured his left knee, left elbow, and neck and possibly aggravated a prior injury.
Progressive sent Cheema a notice of cancellation of its policy that was effective July 14, 2018. Progressive stated that it was canceling the policy because it did not "have a program for passenger transportation for a fee in [Michigan]." In October 2018, Cheema sued Progressive for unpaid personal injury protection insurance (PIP) benefits.
In a letter dated November 29, 2018, Progressive rescinded the policy that had been issued to Overland and declared it void as of April 4, 2018. Progressive took this action claiming misrepresentation or fraud. In its cancellation letter, Progressive indicated that the rescission superseded "any notice of cancellation, notice of nonrenewal, notice of reinstatement or renewal."
In March 2019, Overland sued Golden Insurance and its principal, Saeidi. Overland alleged, in part, that Saeidi, who acted on behalf of Golden Insurance, had negligently completed the application and misadvised Cheema.
In April 2019, Cheema amended his complaint against Progressive to include State Farm as a defendant that provided coverage under a State Farm policy of a resident relative. Progressive, State Farm, and Golden Insurance moved to consolidate Cheema's case against the insurers with Overland's case against the agency because the cases all involved the same set of facts. The trial court granted the motion, consolidated the cases, and ordered that all the proceedings from the 2018 case be transferred into the 2019 case and closed the 2018 case.
State Farm and Progressive later moved for summary disposition of the claims against them. The trial court granted defendants' motions for summary disposition. The trial court acknowledged that there was a factual dispute as to whether Cheema caused the misrepresentation in the application, but determined that there was no factual dispute that Cheema agreed to the rescission. Therefore, it concluded that Progressive could not be held liable under the policy. The trial court also agreed that the undisputed evidence showed that Cheema was an owner of the Odyssey and that he had not maintained the required insurance. For that reason, the trial court ruled that Cheema was barred from obtaining PIP benefits. Accordingly, the trial court dismissed all the claims against Progressive and State Farm in Cheema's case.
In December 2020, Overland stipulated to the dismissal of its claims against Golden Insurance and Saeidi. This appeal followed.
We first consider our jurisdiction, which is always within the scope of our review. Chen v Wayne State Univ, 284 Mich.App. 172, 191; 771 N.W.2d 820 (2009).
Although the trial court ordered the merger of the two lower court cases and closed the first case, the two cases involved distinct claims and different parties. Overland's claims operated under the theory that the breaches of duty by Golden Insurance and Saeidi caused Progressive to void the insurance policy issued by Progressive to Overland. By contrast, Cheema's claims involved, in part, the assertion that Golden Insurance properly selected and sold the Progressive policy to Overland and correctly identified the nature of Cheema's business. Moreover, the trial court did not recaption the cases to reflect the parties' changed statuses-instead, the parties continued to caption the cases separately and refer to them as consolidated even though they were ostensibly one case. It further appears that the cases were consolidated under MCR 2.505(A) rather than joined under MCR 2.205. If the cases were consolidated and not joined, the two cases would have retained their separate character, and each would have been subject to separate final orders. See Chen, 284 Mich.App. at 196-199.
To the extent that the two cases were consolidated, the trial court's order granting the motions for summary disposition by Progressive and State Farm would have been the final order for Cheema's case because it adjudicated all the disputes between Cheema and the insurers. See MCR 7.202(6)(a)(i). Accordingly, the relevant date for purposes of calculating the deadline for an appeal of right would be the date the trial court entered its order denying reconsideration. Because Cheema did not file his claim of appeal within 21 days of that order, this Court would not have jurisdiction to hear his appeal as an appeal of right if the two cases were merely consolidated. See MCR 7.204(A)(1)(d). Nevertheless, even if Cheema's appeal is untimely as an appeal of right, we choose to exercise our discretion and treat his appeal as an application for leave to appeal and grant the application. Waatti & Sons Electric Co v Dehko, 230 Mich.App. 582, 585; 584 N.W.2d 372 (1998).
We do not agree, however, that Overland is a proper party to this appeal. This Court has jurisdiction to hear appeals by parties who were aggrieved by the lower court's decision. See MCR 7.203(A). Overland did not assert any claims against the insurers and stipulated to the dismissal with prejudice of all its claims against Golden Insurance and Saeidi. The trial court also did not recaption the case to include Overland in Cheema's claims. As such, Overland is not an aggrieved party. See Federated Ins Co v Oakland Co Rd Comm, 475 Mich. 286, 290-292; 715 N.W.2d 846 (2006). Consequently, we conclude that Overland lacks standing to appeal, and we dismiss it from the appeal. See id. at 297.
We first address Cheema's arguments that the trial court erred when it determined that Progressive was entitled to rescind its insurance policy and granted Progressive's motion for summary disposition on that basis.
A trial court's decision regarding a motion for summary disposition is...
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