{"id":895899,"date":"2019-05-21T15:21:15","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T21:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=895899"},"modified":"2019-05-21T15:21:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T21:21:22","slug":"statutory-interest-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Statutory Interest Series: Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Beaujeaux de Lapouyade | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com\/2019\/05\/articles\/insurance\/statutory-interest-series-michigan-2\/\">Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog<\/a> | May 16, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prompt-pay laws are important to a policyholder\u2019s rights to recover insurance benefits following a wrongful denial or delay in payment of a property damage claim. Prompt-pay laws vary from state to state. The implementation of statutory prompt-pay laws is critical to a policyholder\u2019s recovery following a devastating loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A policyholder\u2019s entitlement to prejudgment interest on wrongfully delayed or denied claim payments is a necessary tool to encourage insurance carriers to properly investigate claims and issue payments in a timely manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The State of Michigan enforces statutory interest penalties for a carrier\u2019s failure to issue payments promptly. The Michigan State Legislature enacted prompt-pay laws to protect consumers from delayed payment of owed policy benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michigan\u2019s Prejudgment Interest Statute<sup>1<\/sup>&nbsp;allows interest on any money judgment recovered in a civil action and calculated from the date of filing the complaint at 6% per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, claims not paid timely will constitute an unfair trade practice unless the claim is \u201creasonably in dispute.\u201d The statute provides as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>Mich. Comp. Laws \u00a7500.2006. Payment of benefits on timely basis; payment of interest in alternative; failure to pay claims or interest as unfair trade practice.<\/em><\/p><p>(1) A person must pay on a timely basis to its insured, a person directly entitled to benefits under its insured\u2019s insurance contract . . . or, in the alternative, a person must pay to its insured, a person directly entitled to benefits under its insured\u2019s insurance contract . . . 12% interest, as provided in subsection (4), on claims not paid on a timely basis.&nbsp;<em>Failure to pay claims on a timely basis or to pay interest on claims as provided in subsection (4) is an unfair trade practice unless the claim is reasonably in dispute.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The last sentence of subsection (1) tells us that we should also consider the language of subsection (4), which provides:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>(4) If benefits are not paid on a timely basis, the benefits paid bear simple interest from a date 60 days after satisfactory proof of loss was received by the insurer at the rate of 12% per annum, if the claimant is the insured or a person directly entitled to benefits under the insured\u2019s insurance contract. . . . The interest must be paid in addition to and at the time of payment of the loss. If payment is offered by the insurer but is rejected by the claimant, and the claimant does not subsequently recover an amount in excess of the amount offered, interest is not due. Interest paid as provided in this section must be offset by an award of interest that is payable by the insurer as provided in the award.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Policyholder\u2019s should be mindful of subsection (4) above, which notes that interest is not payable on payments offered by the carrier and rejected by the policyholder if the policyholder subsequently fails to recover an amount more than the offered amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<em>Denham v. Bedford<\/em>,<sup>2<\/sup>&nbsp;the Michigan Supreme Court confirmed that Michigan\u2019s Prejudgment Interest Statute is a \u201cremedial statute entitled to liberal interpretation.\u201d In&nbsp;<em>Denham<\/em>, the court determined that carriers owe interest to the policyholder on the entire judgment regardless of whether the interest owed allows the total payment to exceed policy limits. A noteworthy portion of the opinion provides:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Payment of prejudgment interest not only compensates the prevailing party but also liability for prejudgment interest may act as an incentive to the insurer to promptly settle a meritorious claim. Without such an incentive, the insurer may refuse to settle a meritorious claim in hopes of forcing plaintiff to settle for less than the claim\u2019s true value. The insurer risks nothing. Even if protracted litigation results, the insurer will only be liable for its policy limits all the while reaping a tidy sum from its investment of the policy limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Delay tactics are a real burden many policyholders face when dealing with property damage claims. It is important to be aware of the various tools available to assist policyholders in efficiently obtaining full payment of owed policy benefits.<br>___________________________<br><sup>1<\/sup>\u00a0M.C.L.A \u00a7600.6013.<br><sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0<em>Denham v. Bedford<\/em>, 287 N.W.2d 168, 528 (Mich. 1980).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beaujeaux de Lapouyade | Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog | May 16, 2019 Prompt-pay laws are important to a policyholder\u2019s rights to recover insurance benefits following a wrongful denial or delay in payment of a property damage claim. Prompt-pay laws vary from state to state. The implementation of statutory prompt-pay laws is critical to a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Statutory Interest Series: Michigan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10721,9721],"tags":[9895,8675,156,10803],"class_list":["post-895899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance","category-property-damage","tag-advise-consult","tag-michigan","tag-property-damage-claim","tag-statutory-interest-penalties","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Statutory Interest Series: Michigan - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The State of Michigan enforces statutory interest penalties for a carrier\u2019s failure to issue payments promptly following a wrongful denial or delay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Statutory Interest Series: Michigan - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The State of Michigan enforces statutory interest penalties for a carrier\u2019s failure to issue payments promptly following a wrongful denial or delay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-21T21:21:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-21T21:21:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Statutory Interest Series: Michigan\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-21T21:21:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-21T21:21:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/\"},\"wordCount\":687,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"Michigan\",\"Property Damage Claim\",\"Statutory Interest Penalties\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Insurance\",\"Property Damage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/\",\"name\":\"Statutory Interest Series: Michigan - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-21T21:21:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-21T21:21:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"The State of Michigan enforces statutory interest penalties for a carrier\u2019s failure to issue payments promptly following a wrongful denial or delay\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Statutory Interest Series: Michigan - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"The State of Michigan enforces statutory interest penalties for a carrier\u2019s failure to issue payments promptly following a wrongful denial or delay","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Statutory Interest Series: Michigan - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"The State of Michigan enforces statutory interest penalties for a carrier\u2019s failure to issue payments promptly following a wrongful denial or delay","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2019-05-21T21:21:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-21T21:21:22+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Statutory Interest Series: Michigan","datePublished":"2019-05-21T21:21:15+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-21T21:21:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/"},"wordCount":687,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","Michigan","Property Damage Claim","Statutory Interest Penalties"],"articleSection":["Insurance","Property Damage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/","name":"Statutory Interest Series: Michigan - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-05-21T21:21:15+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-21T21:21:22+00:00","description":"The State of Michigan enforces statutory interest penalties for a carrier\u2019s failure to issue payments promptly following a wrongful denial or delay","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statutory-interest-michigan\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3L3Z","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":895900,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895899\/revisions\/895900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}