Michigan Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
Every Michigan auto insurance policy includes Personal Injury Protection. Under MCL 500.3105, PIP benefits are payable regardless of fault to any person who suffers accidental bodily injury arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle. In plain English: if you're hurt in a Michigan car crash, your own no-fault insurer pays first.
What PIP pays
- Medical care. All reasonable and necessary charges for care, recovery, and rehabilitation, up to the coverage level chosen on your policy.
- Wage loss. 85% of gross wages lost for up to 3 years, subject to a monthly cap adjusted annually.
- Replacement services. Up to $20 per day for services you can no longer perform — housekeeping, childcare, yard work — for up to 3 years.
- Survivor's loss. Benefits paid to a deceased victim's dependents for support and services, for up to 3 years.
- Attendant care. Skilled and unskilled home care, including care by family members, when medically necessary.
PIP coverage levels after the 2019 no-fault reforms
The 2019 reforms (PA 21 and PA 22 of 2019) ended mandatory unlimited PIP medical for policies renewing or issued on or after July 2, 2020. Michigan drivers now choose from six coverage options:
- Unlimited lifetime medical coverage.
- $500,000 medical cap.
- $250,000 medical cap.
- $250,000 with a health-insurance PIP medical exclusion for the named insured and resident relatives who carry qualified health coverage.
- $50,000 option available only to Medicaid enrollees whose household members have qualified coverage.
- Full PIP medical opt-out — available only to Medicare Parts A and B beneficiaries whose resident relatives have qualified coverage or their own auto PIP.
The level you selected — often years ago, sometimes without realizing it — controls how much medical coverage you have after a crash. Check your declarations page today.
The serious impairment threshold
Michigan restricts noneconomic damages — pain, suffering, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life — to serious cases. MCL 500.3135(1) allows a third-party lawsuit only where the injured person has suffered death, permanent serious disfigurement, or serious impairment of body function .
MCL 500.3135(5) defines serious impairment as an objectively manifested impairment of an important body function that affects the person's general ability to lead his or her normal life. Michigan courts (see McCormick v. Carrier) apply a totality-of-the-circumstances test — comparing pre- and post-crash life, not requiring permanent disability.
The mini-tort for vehicle damage
PIP does not pay to fix your car. If you did not have collision coverage, or if collision left an uncovered gap, MCL 500.3135(3)(e) lets you sue the at-fault driver for up to $3,000 in vehicle damage. The recovery is capped, but so is the paperwork — mini-tort cases are usually filed in small-claims or district court.
Priority of insurers — who pays your PIP
MCL 500.3114 lays out the "priority" for which insurer pays PIP first:
- 1
Your own policy — the policy of the injured person or, if none, the policy of a spouse or resident relative.
- 2
The insurer of the occupied vehicle — for passengers with no qualifying policy of their own.
- 3
Michigan Assigned Claims Plan — a last-resort assignment (MCL 500.3172) for people with no policy in the household and no vehicle-based coverage. Benefits are capped at $250,000.
Getting the priority order wrong on the front end can delay benefits by months. Insurers frequently deny "wrong-carrier" claims that turn out to be theirs.
What Michigan's no-fault system does not do
- It doesn't pay pain and suffering. That only comes from a third-party lawsuit.
- It doesn't pay to fix your car. Property damage runs through collision, mini-tort, or a third-party property claim.
- It doesn't guarantee approval. Insurers routinely cut off benefits based on IME reports, utilization review, or missed forms. Denials are common.
- It doesn't stop the clock. The 1-year notice, 1-year-back rule, and 3-year statute all keep ticking while you wait.
Getting the wrong benefits — or none at all?
We handle the priority disputes, denied claims, threshold arguments, and third-party lawsuits every day. One call and we can tell you what you're owed under Michigan's no-fault Act — free of charge.