But the appellate panel disagreed. Writing for the court, Judge Noah P. Hood explained that the term “accident” wasn’t defined in the policy, so Michigan law supplies a default definition: “an undesigned contingency, a happening by chance, something not naturally to be expected.” Importantly, the court emphasized that whether an incident qualifies as an accident must be assessed from the perspective of the insured – in this case, Inhmathong – not the person who fired the gun.

Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.