Is Michigan’s No Fault Auto Insurance Different?

By Norma Hollenbeck • July 31st, 2009
by Norma Hollenbeck

Michigan auto insurance is a lot different from insurance elsewhere in the United States. Required by law in Michigan, no fault insurance has three basic parts. These are personal injury protection, property protection insurance and residual liability insurance (bodily injury and property damage coverage). If you want to register a car in Michigan, auto insurance has to be purchased, and you have to prove that you have it. Like most other places in the US, driving a car without insurance is against the law.

Michigan’s no fault insurance policies provide for full reimbursement of medical costs, and for the money you lose from being injured, up to a three year period. As of 2007, that amount was up to a little over four thousand, five hundred dollars. People who are killed in an accident and have Michigan auto insurance will be paid up to that amount every month for three years, based on the earnings of the person who has died.

When someone is hurt in an accident and can’t provide basic family services like housework or maintenance, another twenty dollars per day is available for hiring others to perform these duties. Michigan no fault insurance coverage can be synchronized to an existing disability or health policy to cut premium costs, as long as that policy doesn’t come from Medicaid or Medicare. The synchronized policy then becomes the primary payer, and your auto insurance covers only what remains.

Users of Michigan no fault insurance who damage personal property like buildings and fences can have their insurance company pay up to a million dollars for that damage, as well as damage which has been done to correctly parked cars.

Michigan’s no fault law also protects people with Michigan auto insurance from lawsuits, except under a few special situations. For instance, if you caused an accident and someone else was killed or seriously injured, you were involved in an accident with a car that’s not registered in Michigan, or you were involved in an accident in a different state, a suit might happen.

In addition, if you were more than fifty percent at fault in an accident, you may be sued for up to five hundred dollars in damage to the other car. However, in situations where you’re sued or are legally responsible for damages, your Michigan no fault insurance will pay up to your coverage limits.

There’s a minimum requirement of twenty thousand dollars worth of coverage for property damage and bodily injury coverage to handle situations where a person is injured or killed in an accident. For accidents where several people are injured or killed, up to forty thousand dollars of coverage is required. To cover property damage that happens outside of Michigan, you’ll need to have up to ten thousand dollars of Michigan auto insurance coverage. Just remember that if the court awards more than this, you’ll be responsible for the excess you need to pay.

Michigan no fault insurance doesn’t cover everything, either. For instance, you don’t have to have insurance available to cover fixing your own car in an accident or when flood damage, theft, vandalism, or other types of non accident damage occur, or for covering uninsured motorist damage. However, this kind of coverage is available as part of Michigan auto insurance, even if not required by law.

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