If you’ve been in a car accident, you should know that under Michigan’s No-Fault law, every driver is required to purchase a policy that includes Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits. Also known as first-party benefits, these benefits are available to you regardless of whether (or to what extent) you are at fault. It’s your auto insurance that pays out these benefits.
Up until the no fault reforms passed in 2019 and for polices that became effective in 2020, every driver had unlimited benefits as part of No-Fault insurance in Michigan. Now, there are different levels of protection (including unlimited), depending on how much you want to pay in insurance premiums.
The reforms also changed how the order of priority works (who pays benefits for your injuries) depending upon when your accident took place. These current complications have made filing a PIP claim more difficult. As such, many people have discovered the benefits of hiring a lawyer for a PIP claim rather than attempting to do it on their own so they don’t get slighted by the insurance companies.
How PIP Works in Michigan
Generally speaking, no fault coverage or personal injury protection (PIP) benefits are payable to eligible individuals who have suffered an injury as a result of the ownership, operation, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle. The injured party is covered regardless of whether she or he is an occupant of the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Order of Priority is complicated and varies based upon the specifics of your accident. For example, someone who is injured in a motorcycle accident or on a bus will have a different order of priority from someone who is injured as a pedestrian or in their own vehicle.
As one example if someone was injured as a pedestrian, after the no-fault reforms took effect, the order of priority is as follows:
- First, if they are insured with their own policy, that insurance company would be responsible for their PIP benefits.
- Second, if there is no policy covering that individual, the individuals spouse or resident relative’s policy would pay benefits.
- Finally, if the person had no policy of their own and also had no resident relatives with an auto insurance policy, they could be assigned an insurance company by the state (so long as they were a Michigan resident at the time of he accident).
All of this changes depending on the type of accident, and the Michigan No-Fault Act lays out numerous rules to identify the insurance company responsible for paying out PIP benefits. This is yet another reason to hire a skilled car accident lawyer to help with a PIP claim. The attorneys at Kajy Law know all of the ins and outs of the law and how it pertains to personal injury protection for you.
What Michigan PIP Benefits Cover
If you’re already suffering an injury, then you are legally entitled to collect Michigan PIP benefits to help you recover so you can begin to rebuild your life. The benefits include the following:
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Medical Expenses
Medical bills and expenses related to your accident injury will be covered up to the dollar amount of PIP medical benefits coverage you’ve selected through your auto insurance policy.
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Medical Mileage
Personal injury protection benefits also cover transportation costs you incur traveling to and from medical appointments at doctors’ offices, hospitals, and rehabilitation/therapy clinics. If you do not drive, then bus, taxi, or Uber/Lyft fares for these purposes are also covered.
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Wage Loss
If your injuries as a result of the accident have left you disabled and unable to return to work, your PIP benefits will reimburse you for the wages you have lost. These benefits are not treated as taxable income and therefore reflect 85% of your wages. They’re also available for only three years from the date of your accident and are subject to a monthly maximum.
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Replacement Services
Personal injury protection benefits also cover reimbursement for people who help you with ordinary and necessary services you cannot do in the first years after your accident because of your injuries or limitations. The benefits pay up to $20 per day for services such as housekeeping, laundry, cleaning, lawn and garden maintenance, taking out the garbage,
babysitting/child care, driving family members to school and appointments, car maintenance, shoveling snow, and meal preparation.
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Attendant Care
In the event that your accident-related injuries have left you in need of attendant care, Michigan PIP benefits will cover the cost of up to 56 hours per week of in-home, family-provided attendant care. If you need more time than that, attendant care providers and auto insurance companies can contract to provide paid coverage in excess of the weekly limit. Examples of covered activities include bathing, dressing, administering medication, monitoring and supervision for safety reasons, ambulation, styling/combing of hair, help using the toilet, driving the patient, fetching, carrying, and lifting things for the patient, and wound care.
How Does a Bodily Injury (BI) Claim Differ From a PIP Claim?
Separate from PIP is Bodily Injury Liability Insurance. This is intended to compensate victims who are suffering sustained injuries from an accident where they are NOT at fault if they meet a certain threshold injury. Victims filing a bodily injury (BI) claim may be able to get claim excess economic damages beyond that covered by the PIP claim, for example this compensation could include the excess medical bills and expenses, rehabilitation expenses, lost wages, and funeral expenses beyond that covered by the PIP claims.
Both insurance claims deal with injury to a victim. The main difference is that with a PIP claim, there is no element of “at-fault” needed by the policyholder and there is no specific level of injury required. By contrast, BI claims can only be filed by a claimant who is not at fault and meets a certain injury threshold.
Differentiating between the two can be difficult without guidance from a professional. So you’ll definitely want to hire a car accident injury lawyer to help you with your BI claim if you’re considering taking that route.
Get the PIP Benefits You Deserve
If you’re struggling with injuries from a car accident and have questions about your legal rights to Michigan PIP benefits, call Kajy Law today at 877-KAJY-CARES.
Or you can visit our contact page.
Either way, you’ll receive a free consultation with a highly experienced car accident lawyer in Southfield. And there’s absolutely no cost or obligation to you.
