In Citizens Ins Co of America v. University Physician Grp, No 328553, the Court of Appeals found when a plaintiff, seeking to enforce rights to indemnity or reimbursement, uses the word “reimbursement” in a complaint against a third party provider defendant(s) under the assigned claims system, the 2-year statute of limitations under MCL 500.3175(3) governs the proceedings.
The court relied on Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language and Black’s Law Dictionary – to determine the definitions of the key terms – “indemnity,” “repay,” “reimburse,” and “third party” - used within the above-mentioned statutes and Citizens Insurance’s complaint. The court found that Citizen’s Insurance’s use of “reimburse” in its complaint was significant and similar to the use of the word in MCL 500.3175(3), and thus that statute governed, and the claim was time barred.
