PIP and Med-Pay rules in Michigan

Michigan is one of a handful of true no-fault states, and the coverage that pays for your care after a crash has a name most out-of-state drivers do not expect. It is not "Med-Pay." It is Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, and it is built into every Michigan auto policy by law. Under the Michigan No-Fault Act, your own insurer pays your medical bills and part of your lost income after a crash no matter who was at fault.¹ The small optional Med-Pay add-on common in at-fault states is not part of a standard Michigan policy, because PIP already covers medical costs and a good deal more.

A 2019 reform, most of which took effect in July 2020, rewrote a lot of these rules. Here is what applies in Michigan right now.

What PIP pays

PIP is first-party coverage, so you collect from your own insurer. MCL 500.3107 sets out what it covers after a motor vehicle crash:²

Reasonable and necessary medical treatment tied to the crash, up to the coverage level on your policy.
Wage loss at 85% of the gross income you lose while you cannot work, up to a monthly cap that the Department of Insurance and Financial Services adjusts every October. For crashes between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, that cap is $7,201 per 30-day period, and wage loss is payable for up to three years.³
Replacement services of up to $20 per day for household work you can no longer do yourself, such as cleaning, childcare, or yard work, also for up to three years.
Survivor's loss benefits for dependents if someone dies, paid at the same $7,201 monthly cap for the 2025-2026 year.³

One detail trips people up: the monthly cap fixed to your claim is the one in effect on the date of your crash, not the date you file. A 2026 crash locks in the 2025-2026 number even if you are still collecting years later.

Choosing your PIP medical level

This is the choice the reform created, and the one most likely to leave you underinsured. Before July 2020 every Michigan driver carried unlimited lifetime medical coverage. Now, under MCL 500.3107c, you select a level when you buy or renew a policy:⁴

Unlimited medical benefits.
$500,000 per person, per accident.
$250,000 per person, per accident.
$50,000 per person, per accident, available only if the named insured is on Medicaid and household members carry qualified health coverage.
A complete opt-out of PIP medical, allowed only when you have Medicare Parts A and B and everyone in your household has other coverage for auto injuries.⁵

If you never sign a selection form, the policy defaults to unlimited.⁵ Take that default seriously. The cost of treating a brain or spinal injury can pass $250,000 or $500,000 fast, and the moment your PIP medical limit runs out, the insurer stops paying for care you still need.

Where "unlimited" stops being unlimited

Even unlimited PIP now runs through a medical fee schedule. Under MCL 500.3157, providers who treat auto-injury patients are paid a set percentage of the Medicare rate for the same service, and where Medicare sets no rate, 52.5% to 55% of what the provider charged on January 1, 2019.⁶ The schedule took effect July 1, 2021. Some rehabilitation and home-care providers say the lower rates make it hard to keep taking no-fault patients, so a high coverage limit does not always guarantee easy access to care.

Family attendant care has its own ceiling. When a relative, a member of your household, or someone who knew you before the crash provides in-home attendant care, the insurer only has to pay for 56 hours per week unless it agrees in writing to more.⁶ Care from a licensed agency is not capped that way.

The catastrophic layer and the MCCA

Behind your insurer sits a second layer for the worst injuries. The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association reimburses your auto insurer for PIP medical costs above a per-claim retention.⁷ That retention is $675,000 for policies issued or renewed between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2027. Every insured vehicle pays an annual MCCA assessment to fund the pool: $82 for the 2025-2026 year if you keep unlimited PIP, and $23 if you chose a capped level.⁸ Only drivers who keep unlimited coverage tap that catastrophic layer, which is the real trade-off behind dropping to a lower limit.

Coordinating PIP with your health insurance

The nearest thing Michigan has to a Med-Pay decision is coordination. Under MCL 500.3109a, an insurer can sell you a "coordinated" policy at a reduced premium, where your health insurance pays crash-related medical bills first and PIP covers what health insurance leaves.⁹ "Uncoordinated" PIP keeps your auto policy primary. Coordinating lowers your premium, but it only helps if your health plan actually pays for auto injuries. Many plans, along with most Medicare and Medicaid rules, limit or exclude that, so read your health policy before you check the coordinated box.

Which insurer do you claim from

In an at-fault state you look to the other driver's carrier. In Michigan you almost always file PIP with your own insurer first. MCL 500.3114 sets the order of priority: your own policy, then a resident relative's policy, then the insurer of the vehicle you occupied.¹⁰ If no policy in that chain applies, you may qualify for the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan, which since the reform pays a maximum of $250,000 in PIP benefits.¹¹ Motorcyclists and pedestrians have their own priority rules under the same statute.

Deadlines that will end your claim

Two deadlines in MCL 500.3145 quietly kill otherwise valid PIP claims.¹² You have to give your insurer written notice of the injury, or file a claim, within one year of the crash, or the insurer can refuse to pay. And the "one-year-back rule" limits your recovery to expenses and losses from the year before you file suit, so bills that pile up while you wait can fall outside the window for good. Getting the crash documented early helps you meet both; you can order the report through the state's Michigan crash report system.

What PIP does not cover

PIP does not pay for damage to your car. Michigan's "mini-tort" rule lets you collect up to $3,000 from the at-fault driver for repair costs your own insurance did not cover, under MCL 500.3135.¹³ For the resale value your vehicle loses after a serious repair, see our Michigan diminished value guide. PIP also does not pay for pain and suffering. You can pursue those non-economic damages against the at-fault driver only if your injury clears Michigan's threshold of death, serious impairment of an important body function, or permanent serious disfigurement.¹³ If your injuries are that severe, or your PIP claim is being denied, it is worth talking with a Michigan car accident attorney before a deadline passes.

This article is general information about Michigan law, not legal advice for your specific situation.

Sources

Michigan No-Fault Act, MCL 500.3101 et seq. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-500-3101
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3107 (allowable PIP benefits). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3107
Michigan DIFS Bulletin 2025-18-INS, annual adjustment of the maximum work loss and survivor's loss benefit. https://www.michigan.gov/difs/-/media/Project/Websites/difs/Bulletins/2025/Bulletin_2025-18-INS.pdf
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3107c (PIP medical coverage level options). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3107c
Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, Choosing PIP Medical Coverage. https://www.michigan.gov/autoinsurance/choosing-coverage/choosing-pip-med-coverage
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3157 (fee schedule and 56-hour family attendant care limit). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3157
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3104 (Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3104
Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, assessment and retention information. https://michigancatastrophic.com/
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3109a (coordination of benefits). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3109a
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3114 (order of priority for PIP). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3114
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3172 (Michigan Assigned Claims Plan). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3172
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3145 (one-year notice and one-year-back rule). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-500-3145
Michigan Compiled Laws, MCL 500.3135 (tort threshold and mini-tort). https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-500-3135

PIP and Med-Pay Rules in Michigan