Is Michigan’s No Fault Auto Insurance Different?
31 Jul 2009
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.
If someone is in an accident and his or her injury prevents basic family services from being provided, such as housekeeping, up to twenty dollars per day to hire others to do this for them is also available. You can choose to synchronize your coverage to any existing health or disability policy if you’d like to reduce your premium, as long as it’s not a Medicare or Medicaid policy (these cannot be synchronized). That makes the synchronized policy the primary payer, and the your Michigan auto insurance is responsible for covering what’s left.
If you use Michigan no fault insurance, the policy will pay up to one million dollars for damage you do to fences, railing, buildings, and other types of property belonging to someone else. This policy also pays for damage you do to properly parked cars that belong to other people.
The no fault law for Michigan auto insurance also protects people who are insured under this policy from being sued outside of particular situations. If you cause an accident in which someone else is seriously injured or killed, are involved in an accident with a car not registered in that state, or you’re involved in an accident outside of state, you may be sued.
If you were at fault for an accident (more than fifty percent) it’s also possible that you might be sued for up to five hundred dollars worth of damage to another car. However, you can still get payment from Michigan no fault auto insurance plans for up to your coverage limits, even if you’re legally responsible for damages.
In this state, you’re required to carry a certain amount of coverage. That includes at least twenty thousand dollars worth of coverage for bodily injury and property damage for every person hurt or killed in an accident. Forty thousand dollars worth of coverage is required in case of accidents where multiple people are injured or killed. Another ten thousand dollars worth of coverage is required for property damage outside of Michigan, and you’re responsible for the excess paid in all cases where the award exceeds your coverage.
There are some things that aren’t covered by Michigan no fault insurance, too. For instance, there’s no requirement for insurance to cover repairs to your car, for comprehensive coverage (which handles flood, animal, fire, vandalism and theft damages) or for uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. You have to buy coverage for this to have it dealt with as part of your Michigan auto insurance.