The Lee Steinberg Law Firm are experts on the Michigan No-Fault Law and has a team of Michigan car accident lawyers dedicated to helping you obtain the benefits and money you deserve.
Our Michigan car accident attorneys have been representing individuals injured in Michigan car, truck, and motorcycle accidents for over 40 years. Call our office today. You pay nothing unless we win your case. Let us help you by calling 1-800-LEE-FREE (1-800-533-3733).
What is Michigan No-Fault Law?
The Michigan No-Fault Law is the law covering Michigan motor vehicle accidents. The law went into effect in 1973 and allows a person injured in a car accident to receive certain benefits, no matter who is at fault for causing the accident. This means even if you were at fault for causing a car accident, you may still be entitled to no-fault benefits.
What Are Michigan No-Fault Benefits?
Michigan no-fault benefits, also known as personal injury protection (PIP) benefits, are specific items that auto insurance company must pay an injured person following a motor vehicle accident. The most important benefit is the payment of medical bills resulting from the crash.
Under the law, medical bills not covered by health insurance are to be reimbursed by the car insurance company up to the PIP coverage limit. This includes hospital bills, surgical bills, physical therapy, rehabilitation, medical devices and any other treatment, service or product related to the car accident.
Another important benefit is the payment of lost wages. The car insurance company must pay 85% of gross wages for up to three (3) years from the date of the accident. The wage rate is based on what the injured person was making at the time of the crash, subject to a cap that adjusts each year.
Additional no-fault benefits includes the payment of prescriptions and out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles and co-pays. The car insurance company must reimburse the injured person for these expenses.
Family members, friends and third-party vendors can also get paid for the work they do on behalf of an injured person. If a person cannot complete household chores due to the injuries – such as the laundry or cleaning the home – then family members who replace these services are entitled to receive $20.00 per day for this work. This benefit is known as household replacement services.
If more personal care is needed, such as assisting an injured person in the bathroom, getting dressed, changing bandages, hygiene or other similar tasks, family members and friends can receive payment for this work as well.
This type of benefits is known as attendant care. Under the law, friends and family members can receive payment of attendant care for up to 56 hours per week. If more care is required, then a third-patty home health company can receive payment from the insurance company for these very important and often life sustaining services.
Who Pays Michigan No-Fault Benefits?
Michigan no-fault benefits are paid by car insurance companies, such as State Farm, Allstate or Progressive Insurance. The auto insurance company responsible for paying these no-fault benefits depends on different factors. Under Michigan law, you own car insurance company always pays your no-fault benefits.
If you don’t own a car, then the car insurance for a resident relative – such as a parent, sibling, spouse or other blood related family member – pays the no-fault benefits. This occurs even if the relative’s car or truck was not involved in the collision.
If a person lives alone and there is no auto insurance in the household at the time of the accident, then an injured person can apply for Michigan no-fault benefits through the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MACP). This Plan will then assign an insurance company – such as Farm Bureau or Citizens Insurance – to pay no-fault benefits.
There is one important caveat. Under Michigan law, specifically MCL 500.3113, if you are the owner of an uninsured car or truck that is involved in the crash, then you are not permitted to make a claim for Michigan no-fault benefits. This is true even if you did not cause the wreck.
How Much PIP Coverage Is Allowed?
There are now limits to how much medical coverage, or personal injury protection (PIP) coverage a driver can purchase. Although drivers can still select unlimited PIP coverage, the other choices include:
- $500,000 in PIP coverage
- $250,000 in PIP coverage
- $50,000 in PIP coverage for certain Medicaid eligible individuals
In certain situations, individuals who have qualified health insurance coverage can now entirely opt-out of PIP coverage. These individuals have health insurance plans that do not limit or fail to pay for auto accident treatment, or in the alternative, have Medicare plans.
What Else is Covered under the Michigan No-Fault Law?
Besides getting no-fault benefits, a person injured in a Michigan car accident or truck accident can also obtain compensation for their pain and suffering. This is called a third-party claim.
However, you can only bring a third-party claim if the other driver was at least 50% at-fault for causing the accident and the injured person sustained what’s called a “threshold” injury. The three categories for threshold injury in Michigan are (1) death, (2) permanent serious disfigurement, and (3) serious impairment of body function. Most Michigan car accident and Michigan truck accident cases involve the last category.
Proving a threshold injury is not easy and usually requires the professional help of an attorney. The Lee Steinberg Law Firm has been helping car accident victims for over 40 years obtain the no-fault benefits and pain and suffering compensation they deserve.
Call our office today. You pay nothing unless we win your Michigan car accident case. Let us help you by calling 1-800-LEE-FREE (1-800-533-3733).
5 Benefits of Driving in a No-Fault State
1. Payment of Medical Expenses
Most no-fault states cover medical expenses incurred due to a car accident. Through personal injury protection, or PIP, the car insurance company responsible for paying the no-fault claim must pay medical expenses, such as ambulance bills and hospital bills.
In Michigan, car insurance companies must pay all reasonable medical charges related to the car accident. This benefit is for life and there is no dollar limit. No other state has such a beneficial system.
2. Payment of Wage Loss
Many no-fault states also include wage loss benefits. Though wage loss benefits are capped at a certain amount, this benefit is very important for individuals injured in a car accident. In Michigan, wage loss benefits are available for up to 3 years from the date of the accident.
3. Prompt Payment of Benefits
One of the main reasons for the increase in no-fault schemes in various states during the 1970s was the promise of prompt payments of economic benefits for individuals injured in car and truck accidents. Although insurance companies attempt to deny claims, in Michigan the case law is clear. Insurance companies must promptly pay no-fault benefits when reasonable proof of the benefit is presented.
This is a major feature of the Michigan No-Fault Law. Rather than having to sue the at-fault driver for medical bills and wages, which can takes years, the injured individual can get her bills paid and wages going quickly.
4. Penalties for Insurance Company’s Unreasonable Denial
In many no-fault states, that are penalties for insurance companies unreasonably denying the payment of no-fault benefits. In Michigan, there is a 12 percent interest penalty for an insurance company refusing to pay a benefit it should have paid. These penalties force insurance carriers to pay claims, thereby giving injured individuals access to medical care and lost wages.
5. Financial Stability for Medical Centers
Under federal law, hospitals must treat individuals who present to an emergency room for care. Many ER patients do not have insurance. In these situations, the hospital must financially write-off these patients. This can create a large financial burden on hospitals and medical centers. The Michigan No-Fault Law provides financial stability. When uninsured patients involved in a car accident present to an ER, the hospital knows it will get reimbursed for the medical treatment it provides – treatment that can often be very expensive.
Injury Attorney Video Notes
The No Fault law, also known as PIP, which stands for Personal Injury Protection, allows for certain benefits if you’re involved in a car accident, even if you’re not at fault. That’s why it’s called the no-fault law. You’re still entitled to these benefits.
What are these benefits? These benefits are the payment of medical expenses that are related to the car accident. It involves 85% of your gross wages. It involves the payment of out-of-pocket costs – like prescriptions – as well as medical mileage, like gas money to and from doctors’ offices; you get reimbursed for that. It involves the payment of what’s called replacement services, where somebody – it could be a family member, it could be your mom, daughter, anybody – doing the chores for you, they’re entitled to get reimbursed for the time they’re putting in to do the chores at home.
There’s also something called attendant care, which is more personal care to someone who’s injured in a car accident. Let’s say they need help getting dressed, or need help in the bathroom, or need help changing bandages. All these more personal care type items also get reimbursed by the no-fault carrier for the person doing it. All these benefits come under the umbrella of the Michigan no-fault law.
