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Summer in Michigan has its own rhythm. The roads fill up with beach traffic and construction detours. Motorcycles come out of storage. Bikes and pedestrians share roads that aren't always designed with them in mind. Boats get hauled to lakes on trailers hitched to pickup trucks moving at highway speed. It's a season people look forward to all year, and it's also one of the busiest times for serious accidents.
When someone gets hurt, the questions come fast. Who pays the medical bills? What happens to the paycheck while recovering? Is there anyone to help at home? Michigan's no-fault insurance system exists to answer those questions, but it doesn't always work the way people expect. The benefits are real, but so are the obstacles. Insurance companies don't volunteer information about what you're owed, and they don't always pay without a fight.
What Michigan No-Fault Insurance Actually Covers
Michigan is a no-fault state, which means that after a car accident, your own insurance company pays for your injury-related expenses, regardless of who caused the crash. The part of your policy that covers this is called Personal Injury Protection, or PIP.
PIP covers more people than most realize:
- Drivers and passengers in the insured vehicle
- Pedestrians struck by a motor vehicle
- Cyclists hit by a car
- Household members of the policyholder
- In certain circumstances, people injured in accidents involving a vehicle or trailer connected to a boating incident
In 2019, Michigan overhauled its no-fault law and introduced a tiered coverage system. Drivers can now choose different levels of PIP coverage, from unlimited medical benefits down to an opt-out for those covered by Medicare. The tier you selected when you last renewed your policy determines how much PIP coverage you have.
For a full breakdown of how Michigan no-fault works, visit our No-Fault Insurance Benefits page.
Medical Bills: What Gets Paid and What Gets Complicated
PIP is designed to cover reasonable and necessary medical expenses that result from your accident. For people who kept unlimited PIP coverage, there is no cap on what can be paid. For those who chose a lower tier, there are limits.
What PIP typically covers:
- Emergency room treatment and hospitalization
- Surgery and follow-up care
- Prescription medications
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Chiropractic care
- Home health care and nursing services
- Medical equipment such as wheelchairs, braces, or TENS units
- Mental health treatment tied to the accident, including anxiety, depression, or PTSD
Where things get complicated:
Insurance companies regularly push back on medical claims. They dispute whether a treatment is "medically necessary," question the frequency of therapy visits, or flag gaps in treatment as evidence that the injury isn't serious. These aren't good-faith disagreements. They're strategies.
One important thing many people don't know: PIP is primary for accident-related injuries in Michigan. Even if you have health insurance through your employer, your auto insurer pays first for care tied to the crash.
For more on how medical bills work after an accident, see our Paying Medical Bills page.
Mileage Reimbursement: The Benefit Most People Never Claim
Michigan no-fault also covers mileage to and from medical appointments related to your accident. This benefit exists, it's legitimate, and most people never collect it because no one tells them it's available.
How it works:
- You keep a log of every trip to a medical provider, including the date, destination, and round-trip mileage
- You submit that log to your insurance company
- Reimbursement is paid at the state-approved rate
What qualifies:
- Doctor and specialist visits
- Physical and occupational therapy appointments
- Pharmacy trips for accident-related prescriptions
- Imaging appointments such as MRIs or X-rays
Lost Wages: Keeping Your Income While You Recover
If your injuries leave you unable to work, PIP covers a portion of your lost income. Under Michigan law, wage loss benefits cover 85 percent of your gross wages, up to a statutory maximum, for up to three years from the date of the accident.
What you need to document:
- A physician's statement confirming you are unable to work due to accident-related injuries
- Employer verification of your wages and work schedule
- Pay stubs or tax records from before the accident
- Ongoing medical documentation as your recovery continues
Common disputes:
Insurance companies challenge wage loss claims in several ways. They may order an Independent Medical Examination (IME) with a doctor of their choosing, whose findings almost always favor the insurer. They may argue that your injuries are not severe enough to prevent work. Some insurers conduct surveillance to find evidence that contradicts your physician's restrictions.
For more on this benefit, visit our Recovering Lost Wages page.
Attendant Care: When Someone Has to Help You at Home
Attendant care is one of the most valuable and most contested PIP benefits. It covers the cost of in-home assistance with daily activities that your injuries prevent you from doing on your own.
What qualifies as attendant care:
- Bathing and personal hygiene
- Dressing and grooming
- Medication management
- Meal preparation
- Mobility assistance and transfers
- Bladder and bowel care when applicable
A benefit most people don't realize: A family member who provides this care can be compensated for it. A spouse, parent, or sibling who takes time off work or restructures their day to care for an injured loved one can submit for reimbursement through the PIP claim.
Why insurers fight it so hard:
Attendant care claims involve three variables that insurers attack individually: the hourly rate, the number of hours per day, and the identity of the caregiver. Each one becomes a negotiation. Without documentation, you lose those negotiations.
How to protect your claim:
- Get a written prescription or recommendation for attendant care from your physician
- Keep a daily log of the care provided: what was done, by whom, and for how long
- Be consistent. Gaps in documentation become ammunition for the insurer
Consider a bicycle accident near Berkley High School that leaves a rider with a traumatic brain injury. Cognitive and physical limitations require a spouse to provide near-constant supervision and assistance for weeks. That spouse deserves to be compensated for the work. The insurer will not make it easy without proper documentation and, in many cases, legal pressure.
What Insurance Companies Don't Always Tell You
Insurance companies are businesses. PIP benefits are a cost they manage, and managing that cost often means finding reasons to pay less.
Common tactics include:
- Delaying claim approvals while requesting excessive documentation
- Ordering IMEs with physicians who routinely side with insurers
- Disputing the medical necessity of recommended treatments
- Challenging attendant care hours, rates, or the qualifications of family caregivers
- Using surveillance footage out of context to challenge wage loss claims
You are not required to accept the insurer's first determination. You have the right to dispute denials and push back on underpayments. A personal injury attorney can take on that fight without any upfront cost to you. Personal injury cases, including no-fault disputes, are handled on a contingency fee basis, meaning attorneys are only paid if they recover money for you.
How Long Do You Have to File?
Timing matters in Michigan no-fault claims.
- PIP benefits: Claims must generally be submitted within one year of the accident, or within one year of when each expense was incurred
- Lawsuit against an at-fault driver: Michigan's statute of limitations for personal injury is three years from the date of the accident
Your Benefits Are Worth Understanding
The four benefits covered here, medical care, mileage, lost wages, and attendant care, aren't technicalities buried in an insurance policy. They're the things that keep someone's life from coming apart while they're focused on healing. They cover the hospital bills, the trips to the clinic, the paycheck that stopped coming, and the family member who stepped in to help.
None of this happens automatically. The Michigan no-fault system was built to provide these protections, but collecting them requires documentation, persistence, and a willingness to push back when the insurance company says no. Most people going through a serious injury don't have the bandwidth to do that alone, and they shouldn't have to.
Talk to Someone Who Knows Michigan No-Fault
Most people don't know what they're entitled to until they ask. That's not a failure; it's just how a complicated system works when you're dealing with it for the first time while also managing an injury, a job, and a family.
The team at Liss, Shapero & Mitnick has been handling Michigan no-fault claims for over 50 years. They know what insurers fight, how to document claims properly, and when to push. Tony often calls new clients personally. You won't get a case number and a voicemail. You'll get a team.
📞 Toll-Free: 1-855-LISS-LAW (1-855-547-7529)