Michigan’s No-Fault insurance system is designed to support people in the immediate aftermath of a motor vehicle accident. When someone is injured, their Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits become a lifeline—paying medical expenses, easing the burden of wage loss, and covering essential transportation to treatment. These benefits are meant to help injured Michiganders focus on healing, not financial stress.

But the reality is more complicated. Michigan’s No-Fault law contains strict, unforgiving deadlines that can drastically limit or even eliminate your benefits if missed. Even individuals with legitimate claims—people doing everything they can to recover and get back to their lives—can lose thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills or replacement services because of the One-Year-Back Rule and other statutory time limits.

At Liss, Shapero & Mitnick, our team-centered, client-first philosophy is built around preventing exactly these kinds of losses. We believe in clarity, transparency, and protecting your rights from day one. Our role is to guide you through this complex system with integrity and ensure no deadline stands between you and the benefits you deserve.

Understanding Michigan No-Fault PIP Benefits

What PIP Covers

After a car accident in Michigan, PIP benefits provide broad financial protection. These benefits may include:

• Medical expenses (including surgery, physical therapy, rehabilitation, prescriptions, imaging, and long-term care)
• Wage loss for time missed from work
• Replacement services for household tasks you can’t perform due to your injuries
• Attendant care for individuals who require personal or nursing assistance
• Mileage and transportation to medical appointments
• Medical mileage, home/vehicle modifications, and other allowable expenses, depending on the severity of the injuries

Why PIP Is Essential After an Injury

The value of PIP coverage becomes clear almost immediately after an accident:

• Immediate access to treatment: You don’t have to wait for claim investigations to receive medical care.
• Protection from financial hardship: Medical bills and missed work can quickly overwhelm a family—PIP helps stabilize your life.
• Support regardless of fault: Michigan’s No-Fault structure ensures that injured people have access to benefits even when fault is disputed or unclear.

Key Deadlines in Michigan No-Fault Claims

The 1-Year Notice Deadline

Under Michigan’s No-Fault Act, an injured person must give their insurance company notice of injury within one year of the motor vehicle accident.

Notice must generally include:

• The name and address of the injured person
• The time, place, and nature of the injury
• A statement that the injury arose out of the use, operation, or maintenance of a motor vehicle

This notice does not require extensive documentation—but it must be submitted. If you fail to notify your insurer within one year, you may lose your right to PIP benefits entirely.

Consequences of missing the 1-year notice deadline:

• Complete denial of PIP benefits
• Inability to file suit to enforce your rights
• Loss of coverage for ongoing medical or wage-loss claims

The One-Year-Back Rule (MCL 500.3145)

What the rule means

Courts cannot award PIP benefits for any losses incurred more than one year before the date a lawsuit is filed. Even if your claim is valid, documented, and medically necessary, any bill older than one year is automatically unrecoverable.

Insurance companies often delay, deny, or underpay benefits. If an injured person waits too long to take legal action, those unpaid bills can slip past the one-year mark—and be lost forever.

How insurers use the rule:

• Ignoring or delaying responses to submitted bills
• Requesting endless documentation
• Disputing medical necessity
• Hoping the claimant misses the deadline before filing suit

This rule makes any delay dangerous, even short ones. A single late lawsuit filing can cost a client thousands of dollars in unreimbursed medical care.

Tolling, Extensions & Exceptions

While the One-Year-Back Rule is strict, certain circumstances may extend or “toll” the deadlines:

• Fraud or misrepresentation by the insurer may pause the one-year clock.
• Minors or legally incapacitated individuals may receive limited extensions.
• Post-2019 No-Fault Reform considerations may impact how notice and payment timelines are handled, particularly in disputes involving attendant care and medical fee schedules.

These exceptions are narrow and often contested by insurers, making early legal involvement crucial.

How the One-Year-Back Rule Hurts Injured People

Real-World Examples of Harm

The rule often blindsides injured people in situations like these:

• Medical bills denied due to late action: Hospitals, physical therapists, or specialists may submit large bills months after treatment. If litigation isn’t filed in time, those bills become unrecoverable—even though the care was necessary and accident-related.
• Home care and replacement services lost: Family members who help with cooking, cleaning, driving, and personal care often go unpaid when insurers delay or deny benefits. If those unpaid services fall outside the one-year window, the client loses the right to reimbursement permanently.
• Underpaid or stopped wage-loss benefits: When insurers abruptly stop paying wage loss—or pay only a portion—many clients don’t realize the urgency. By the time they seek help, months of wage loss may already be unrecoverable.

Why Injured Michiganders Often Miss These Deadlines

Most people are not lawyers. They’re managing pain, doctors’ appointments, and the daily struggles of life after an accident. Missing a No-Fault deadline is rarely “negligence”—it’s the natural result of overwhelming circumstances.

Common reasons injured people lose benefits include:

• Insurance adjusters slow to respond: Adjusters may repeatedly request more documentation or ignore submitted bills, causing months of delay.
• Clients unaware of coverage: Many don’t even know they qualify for replacement services, mileage reimbursement, or other benefits.
• Misinformation from insurers: Some clients are mistakenly told benefits aren’t owed, or that claims cannot be processed until “all bills are submitted”—neither of which is true.
• Multiple providers billing at different times: With hospitals, specialists, imaging centers, and therapists, bills often arrive long after the treatment was provided.
• Clients overwhelmed by recovery, family, or work: Healing and caring for loved ones leaves little time to track insurance forms and deadlines.

Why Insurance Companies Benefit From Delay

Make no mistake: insurance companies understand this rule, and they use it to their advantage.

• Reducing exposure on large claims: The longer they delay, the more benefits fall outside the recoverable window.
• Leveraging lack of legal representation: Unrepresented claimants may not know when to file suit or how to preserve claims.
• Pressuring claimants to accept lower payouts: When bills are time-barred, insurers face less financial risk—giving them leverage to settle for less than the true value of the claim.

How Liss, Shapero & Mitnick Protect Clients From the One-Year-Back Trap

Immediate Claim Investigation

From the moment you contact our office, our team begins safeguarding your claim by:

• Collecting medical bills, records, insurance correspondence, and provider statements
• Verifying which insurer is responsible for paying benefits
• Ensuring written notice is submitted correctly and on time

Quick action prevents small issues from becoming costly losses.

Tracking Loss Dates and Ensuring Timely Filing

Our office operates with systems specifically designed to protect clients from statutory traps:

• Precise tracking of service dates, unpaid bills, and insurance correspondence
• Confirming insurer receipt of documents to prevent disputes
• Proactive communication with insurers when bills go unpaid or benefits are delayed

This structured approach keeps claims organized and helps avoid the devastating impact of the one-year-back window.

Challenging Improper Denials

When insurers do wrong, we step in—forcefully.

Our litigation strategies include:

• Filing lawsuits promptly to preserve all recoverable benefits
• Negotiating directly with adjusters and defense firms
• Leveraging medical documentation and client life-impact logs to prove the true extent of losses
• Using demonstrative evidence, expert testimony, and our decades of trial experience to recover every dollar allowed by law

We take on difficult cases—and win them—because we refuse to let insurers get away with unfair tactics.

Personalized, Family-Style Approach

One of the defining characteristics of our firm is that every client gets the entire team, not a single case manager or associate.

• You speak directly with real attorneys.
• Each file receives contributions from multiple team members.
• We maintain consistent check-ins to ensure you always know what’s happening and why.

This collaborative, client-first model ensures no deadline is missed and no detail overlooked.

Protect Your Benefits Before Time Runs Out

Michigan’s No-Fault system was created to support injured people—not to trap them with technical deadlines that allow insurance companies to avoid paying what is owed. Yet strict timelines, especially the one-year-back rule, make it easy for insurers to deny valid benefits unless decisive action is taken.

You do not have to face these challenges alone. At Liss, Shapero & Mitnick, our entire team stands behind you from the moment you call. We work tirelessly to protect your rights, preserve your benefits, and guide you with the clarity, compassion, and integrity that define our firm. Your recovery matters. Your story matters. Your life matters more than your file — and we’re here to prove it.

If you’re dealing with unpaid medical bills, delayed benefits, or uncertainty about your No-Fault rights, reach out today. Every day counts, and we’re ready to help you take the next step.

Contact Liss, Shapero & Mitnick

Address: 2695 Coolidge Highway, Berkley, MI 48072
Phone: 248-584-1300
Toll-Free: 1-855-LISS-LAW (1-855-547-7529)
Fax: 248-584-1323
Website: lsmlawyers.com

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