In many states, drivers are required by state law to have a minimum amount of liability coverage. This is insurance to pay for damages to others if you cause an accident. State laws vary as to the amount of coverage a driver is required to carry. You can pay for greater coverage if you wish. This may protect you from loss if you are found liable in a vehicular accident. Remember, liability insurance pays only to settle claims or pay judgments against you if you are found negligent.
To protect yourself against claims from other drivers or passengers in case of a vehicular accident, you can purchase a coverage known as "uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits". This allows you to receive compensation from your own insurance company if a negligent driver has limited liability insurance. If the amount of your damages exceeds the negligent party's coverage, you can make a claim under this coverage from your own company.
To cover medical bills, you will need to purchase an additional coverage called "medical payments". Medical payments coverage may go by various names, but its intent is to pay for the medical needs of a driver or passengers. It only covers those who are in the insured car.
Collision coverage is another type of voluntary coverage you may wish to purchase. This covers repairs to or replacement of your vehicle after an accident, regardless of who is at fault. There is usually a deductible on the amount paid. This allows you to have repairs on your vehicle if you are at fault, or if someone who has no insurance or who flees the scene damages your car.
With regard to automobile accidents, Michigan is a No-Fault State. This means that your own Michigan car accident insurance company pays most of the economic losses you suffer in an automobile accident, regardless of who was at fault. These economic benefits are called First-Party Benefits.
The Michigan law defining First-Party Benefits states:
First-party benefits are payable to anyone who suffers an injury arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle.
Although your own insurance is first in line to pay in a Michigan automobile 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.
There are other, related benefits known as Third-Party Benefits. These usually cover non-economic losses, including damages for pain and suffering, scarring or disfigurement, death, and wage loss in excess of 3 years.
In Michigan, 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.
To prevail in a claim against a careless driver for non-economic damages in Michigan, the injured auto accident victim must show that he or she suffered a "threshold injury." Michigan law defines this as:
A serious impairment of an important body function, serious disfigurement or scarring, or death.
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 talk with an experienced Michigan auto accident lawyer.
Click to call or email us today.
John J.
Auto AccidentStacy L.
Medical MalpracticeBen W.
Negligence