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.
When someone is hurt in an accident and can’t provide basic family services like housework or maintenance, another twenty dollars per day is available for hiring others to perform these duties. Michigan no fault insurance coverage can be synchronized to an existing disability or health policy to cut premium costs, as long as that policy doesn’t come from Medicaid or Medicare. The synchronized policy then becomes the primary payer, and your auto insurance covers only what remains.
Users of Michigan no fault insurance who damage personal property like buildings and fences can have their insurance company pay up to a million dollars for that damage, as well as damage which has been done to correctly parked cars.
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.
Michigan requires a minimum of twenty thousand dollars in bodily injury and property damage residual coverage for every person who is hurt or killed in an accident, as well as up to forty thousand for each accident where several people are hurt or killed. Up to ten thousand dollars of coverage for property damage in another state is also required for Michigan auto insurance. Be aware, however, that the court might award more than this, and you would be responsible for the excess.
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.