Court of Appeals sends PIP claim back to Wayne County Circuit bench

In James v. AAA Insurance Company, the Court of Appeals held that the Wayne County Circuit Court would have to take a second look at James' PIP claims.  The lower court had held that James could not collect for her hospital billings because she did not admit into evidence the actual itemized hospital billings, however, the Appellate Court ruled that James' testimonial evidence was adequate to support an award of these expenses, if the jury chose to believe the testimony:  she was not required to offer the "best evidence" of the expenses reasonably incurred, leaving the jury to decide what weight should be given her testimonial evidence.

The Court also ruled, however, that since her billings from St. John Hospital were discharged in bankruptcy, they no longer qualified as having been "incurred."  The Court also rejected AAA's claim that James' evidence of a MVA-related head injury were not adequate to support a claim for attendant care expenses.  Again, the Court of Appeals panel ruled that this question was properly one for the jury to decide.