A Michigan court ruled that insurance policies with clear time limits for filing claims must be enforced exactly as written. The trial court had tried to ignore a one-year deadline because it thought the limit was unfair, but the Michigan Supreme Court said courts cannot override unambiguous contract terms just because they seem unreasonable. For subcontractors, this means if your insurance policy has a deadline to report a claim, you must meet it—courts won't save you by deciding the deadline is unfair.
Read your insurance policy's claim deadlines carefully and mark them on your calendar. Courts will enforce these deadlines strictly, even if they seem short.
Don't rely on a judge to override unfair insurance terms. The only way to challenge a policy provision is to prove it violates the law or that you were defrauded when signing it.