September 18, 2026
In the newly published opinion GEICO General Insurance Co v Lewis, (Mich Ct App, September 9, 2026), the Michigan Court of Appeals held that the $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident minimums in MCL 500.3009 apply only to policies delivered or issued for delivery in Michigan for vehicles registered or principally garaged in Michigan.
Chelsea Lewis was injured when Hafiz Kobir ran a red light and struck her car. Kobir was a New York resident driving a vehicle registered and garaged in New York which was insured under a New York GEICO policy with limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per occurrence. Lewis sued Kobir for negligence. GEICO filed a separate declaratory action in Macomb County to confirm those limits.
Kobir’s policy contained a common out-of-state provision in which GEICO agreed to increase coverage “to the extent required of out-of-state motorists by local law.” Lewis argued that the policy had to be reformed to comply with Michigan law. In her view, the “local law” was MCL 500.3009, and the policy should be rewritten to provide coverage limits of not less than $250,000/$500,000. GEICO asserted its policy provision controlled and its policy limits were $25,000/$50,000. The trial court granted GEICO summary disposition, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
The Court noted that the present case addressed whether an out-of-state insurance policy covering a vehicle that is not registered or principally garaged in Michigan must have the default statutory minimums. Section 3009(1), however, reaches only a policy “delivered or issued for delivery in this state with respect to any motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state,” and Korbir’s policy was not delivered or issued for delivery in Michigan. Instead, it was issued and delivered with respect to a motor vehicle registered and principally garaged in New York. Therefore, the coverage limits set forth in section 3009 did not apply. The Court found that MCL 500.3102(1), on the other hand, expressly addressed what insurance coverage is required for nonresident owners or registrants of vehicles that are not registered in Michigan. Section 3102(1) mandates a nonresident must maintain no-fault insurance coverage if their vehicle was operated in Michigan for an aggregate of more than 30 days in any calendar year, and if those conditions are met, the coverage limits in section 3009 would apply. It was undisputed that Kobir did not operate his vehicle in Michigan for more than 30 days.
The Court concluded that because neither section 3009 nor section 3102 mandate particular coverage for Kobir’s out-of-state policy, the terms of his policy control and the liability coverage is limited to $25,000 per person and $50,000 per occurrence.