Opinion ID: 754253
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reinstatement Provision

Text: 8 Equitable Life's first claim on appeal relates to the Policy's reinstatement provision (the Reinstatement Provision) which states that: 9 [t]he reinstated policy will not cover any Loss for which before the date of reinstatement: a) a Doctor gave or recommended medical advice or treatment; or b) there were symptoms that would have caused an ordinarily prudent person to seek medical advice or treatment. In all other respects your and our rights will remain the same, subject to 4 any provisions noted on or attached to the reinstated policy. 10 J.A. at 190 (Policy at 8) (emphasis added). Equitable Life maintains that the phrase before the date of reinstatement should be read as any time before the date of reinstatement, while Poe contends that the district court correctly interpreted the provision as referring to a period of time with a distinct starting point--the date the Policy lapsed. 5 In other words, Poe would like this court to conclude that the Reinstatement Provision excludes from coverage only those pre-existing conditions beginning after the [P]olicy has lapsed and before it is reinstated. Appellee's Br. at 13 (emphasis added). Since Poe's hearing condition was already in existence prior to the Policy's lapse, under Poe's construction his subsequent disability, which occurred after the Policy was reinstated, would not be excluded from coverage by virtue of the Reinstatement Provision. Realizing that Michigan law favors the insured when insurance contract language is ambiguous, Poe contends that, at the very least, the Reinstatement Provision is ambiguous as to the meaning of before the date of reinstatement. However, because we conclude below that, under the Policy's incontestability clause, Equitable Life is barred from contesting coverage of Poe's disability under the theory that it is a pre-existing condition, we need not reach this issue regarding the proper construction of the Reinstatement Provision.