Truck Accident Claims - Michigan No-Fault Law Basics

• First-Party Benefits
• Third-Party Benefits

Video: Michigan truck accident attorney Mark Bernstein discusses your legal rights to No-Fault Insurance after a Michigan Truck Accident.

Michigan No-Fault Insurance: First-Party Basics

The Michigan No-Fault law defining First-Party Benefits states:

• Who has to pay your Michigan No-Fault Benefits?
• What are the specific benefits you may be entitled to receive?

Michigan First-Party Order of Priority

Although your own insurance is first in line to pay in a Michigan truck accident, there are times when an uninsured individual is an innocent passenger in a motor vehicle.  In these circumstances, determining who is responsible to pay Michigan No-Fault Benefits can be complex.

If you have questions about  the application of these complex rules, you should contact a Michigan truck accident lawyer with experience handling Michigan truck accidents.  Please submit a simple, free and confidential legal consultation form for help now. 

Driver or Passenger Order of Priority
1st priority is your own insurance policy, if none then...
2nd priority is to the insurance company of a resident relative (i.e. spouse, parent, or sibling), if none then...
3rd priority is to the insurer of the owner of the vehicle occupied, if none then...
4th priority is to the insurer of the operator of the vehicle occupied, if none then...
5th priority is to the State of Michigan Assigned Claims Facility.

Pedestrian Order of Priority
1st priority is to your own insurance, if none then...
2nd priority is to the insurance company of a resident relative (i.e. spouse, parent, or sibling), if none then...
3rd priority is to the insurer of the owner of the truck involved in the accident, if none then...
4th priority is to the insurer of the operator of the truck involved in the accident, if none then...
5th priority is to the State of Michigan Assigned Claims Facility.

Motorcycle Order of Priority
A different order for receiving benefits exists if you were on a motorcycle when the truck accident happened, because motorcycles are not considered “motor vehicles” under Michigan law.  In a Michigan motorcycle/truck collision, the priority would be as follows:
1st priority is to the insurer of the owner of the truck involved in the accident, if none then...
2nd priority is to the insurer of the operator of the truck involved in the accident, if none then...
3rd priority is to the motor vehicle insurer of the operator of the motorcycle involved in the accident, if none then...
4th priority is to the motor vehicle insurer of the owner of the motorcycle involved in the accident, if none then...
5th priority is to the State of Michigan Assigned Claims Facility.

The Michigan Assigned Claims Facility

The Michigan Assigned Claims Facility is a State Agency with the power to assign an insurance company to provide benefits, if an injured victim cannot obtain benefits from other sources.  Remember that uninsured drivers, operating vehicle they own, do not qualify for Michigan Assigned Claim Facility assistance. 

To apply for Assigned Claims Benefits, call the Michigan Assigned Claim Facility directly at 517-322-1875.

Specific Michigan First-Party Benefits

• Uncoordinated benefits.
• Coordinated benefits. 

Your insurance policy states which type of benefits you should receive.  An uncoordinated policy pays benefits, regardless of the presence of other health insurance.  A coordinated policy requires your other health insurance to pay first, and your automobile insurance to pay amounts that your primary insurer does not cover.  

It is common for a primary health insurance policy and a motor vehicle insurance policy to contain contradictory language about which one has the first obligation to pay medical bills.  Meanwhile, the motor vehicle insurance company may escape its obligation to pay a bill, if it did not receive it within one year of the date that you got the medical treatment.

If you have questions about this, or find that neither insurance company is paying your medical bills in a timely manner, it is important to talk with an experienced Michigan truck accident attorney immediately.  Please submit a simple, free and confidential legal consultation form for help now.

Wage Loss
Michigan No-Fault Law allows an injured individual to receive 85% of his or her lost wages, if a doctor found the victim disabled from work due to injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident.  This benefit cannot exceed a period of 3 years.  The wage loss benefit is set at 85%, rather than 100%, of lost earnings because the benefit is tax-free.  The law also sets a monthly cap on the amount of lost wages that the insurance company must reimburse. 

In some cases, these and other rules create complicated issues.  If you have questions about whether you are getting the correct wage loss benefits, you need to consult an experienced Michigan truck accident attorney.

Attendant Care
Michigan law requires the no-fault insurance company to pay for attendant care (also known as nursing services) for an injured victim who needs supervision or assistance while recovering at home.  Sometimes, a physician determines that a person with severe injury needs around-the-clock supervision. 

A caregiver who is a member of the victim’s family is entitled to attendant care reimbursement.  Although the law does not set a specific hourly rate for the caregiver, the reimbursement should reflect the type and complexity of the services that the injured person receives. 

Frequently, insurance companies refuse to pay for adequate attendant care.  If this happens, you should contact a Michigan truck accident lawyer with experience handling Michigan truck accidents.  Please submit a simple, free and confidential legal consultation form for help now.

Replacement Services
This term refers to reimbursement for services that you would have performed on your own, if you were not injured in a Michigan truck accident.  If you paid or promised to pay for household services, chores, errands, etc., which you usually accomplished on your own, then you may be entitled to reimbursement for these expenses. 

A physician needs to provide a written statement that you are unable to do these tasks on your own.  In addition, your insurance company may require documentation of who performed what services. 

Michigan law states that an insurance company is obligated to reimburse up to $20 per day for replacement services and that these benefits last for up to three years.

Mileage Reimbursement
Often, proper medical treatment, tests, and physical therapy require an injured person to travel long distances.  Michigan No-Fault Law provides for the reimbursement for mileage traveled to and from this medical care.

Michigan No-Fault Insurance: Third-Party Basics

While First-Party Benefits cover most economic losses, Third-Party Benefits provide damages for pain and suffering, scarring or disfigurement, death, and wage loss in excess of 3 years.

A Third-Party legal claim is filed against the at-fault driver in the motor vehicle accident.  With the exception of excess wage loss, the damages sought in a Third-Party case are non-economic in nature.

In Michigan, to prevail in a claim against a careless driver for non-economic damages, the injured victim must show that he or she suffered a "threshold injury."  State law defines this as:

It is very common for insurance company adjusters to assert that an injury is not a “serious impairment of a body function.”  However, if you have an objectively documented injury to an important part of your body, and this affects your life, then you should contact our law firm to protect your rights.  Please submit a simple, free and confidential legal consultation form for help now.

The Statute of Limitations (or time limit) for filing a Third-Party lawsuit is 3 years.  Minors have until one year past their 18th birthday to take formal legal action.  There are other exceptions for military personnel and those judged mentally incompetent. 

However, it is not wise to delay getting legal assistance.  To make the strongest possible case, it is extremely helpful to start right away, on collecting valuable evidence and locating potential witnesses. 

Protect your rights.  Get the Bernstein Advantage today.

* For more information about your legal rights after a Michigan truck accident, visit www.michigantruckaccidentlaw.com, the special Bernstein Law Firm website dedicated to helping Michigan truck injury victims.