The Court of Appeals reversed the Trial Court and held that the corporate Plaintiff had a sufficient legal interest in the gas pump such that it could insure it and receive an indemnity payment for the damage. In so doing, the Court of Appeals clarified the law with respect to the type of interest sufficient to allow a person or entity to insure a given property. The Court held that “an insured’s pecuniary interest in the insured property is sufficient to constitute an insurable interest.” Thus, regardless of the fact that the corporate Plaintiff was not the legal owner of the gas pump, its operation of the gas station was dependent upon the gas pump, which gave rise to a sufficient legal interest such that the corporate Plaintiff could insured the pump. The Court held that an “insurable interest” is not synonymous with “ownership,” but rather, that a showing that the insured would “suffer a direct, pecuniary loss from the property’s destruction” is sufficient.
Labels: Insurable Interest, Insurance Coverage Action, Legal Owner, Michigan Appeals, michigan court of appeals, Pecuniary Loss, Wayne County