Can I Sue After a Car Accident in Michigan?
In most states, if you are injured by a careless driver, you can sue that individual and/or company for non-economic damages (also called “pain & suffering”) and economic damages, like medical bills and wage loss.
Michigan is different. Yes, you can sue after a car accident in Michigan, but under the state’s no-fault system, an injured person typically looks first to their own auto insurer for no-fault benefits like medical bills and lost wages rather than claiming those expenses against the at-fault driver. Your auto insurance’s personal injury protection (“PIP”) coverage generally pays medical bills and wage loss while the claim against the at-fault driver is typically for the injured party’s pain and suffering claim.
PIP benefits can include medical expenses, lost wages, replacement services (household services), and attendant care (nursing services). These are called “no-fault” benefits. People with PIP coverage seek these benefits from their own auto insurer first.
To bring a claim for non-economic damages against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering, the injured person must sustain a Threshold Injury. Michigan law defines a threshold injury as an auto-related injury that results in death, a permanent serious disfigurement, or a “serious impairment of body function.” That last phrase is where most of the legal battles happen. Here’s what the rule means and how courts apply it.
The Legal Definition
Michigan’s legislature codified the definition in MCL 500.3135. A “serious impairment of body function” requires three things:
- An objectively manifested impairment — one that is observable or perceivable from actual symptoms or conditions by someone other than the injured person. Think MRI results, X-rays, range-of-motion testing, medical records, or documented physical findings, not just your own report of pain.
- Of an important body function — a function of significance or value to the injured person. This is a personal inquiry: a hand injury may matter differently to a surgeon than to someone whose work doesn’t depend on fine motor skills, but functions like walking, lifting, seeing, and using your back or neck routinely qualify, as do serious injuries such as traumatic brain injuries when objective findings support them.
- That affects the person’s general ability to lead his or her normal life — meaning it has influenced some of your capacity to live in your normal manner of living. Comparing your life before and after the crash is the heart of this element.
The McCormick Standard: A Lower Bar Than Many Expect
The Michigan Supreme Court’s decision in McCormick v. Carrier (2010) — later written into the statute — made the threshold far more plaintiff-friendly than it had been. Under the current standard:
- The impairment does not need to be permanent.
- There is no set minimum duration — an impairment lasting weeks or months can qualify.
- Your life doesn’t have to be destroyed, only affected. The statute requires that the impairment influence some of your general ability to lead your normal life, not all of it.
- You don’t have to be completely unable to work or care for yourself.
Practical examples that have supported threshold claims include fractures, herniated discs with objective imaging, injuries requiring surgery, concussions with documented cognitive effects, and soft-tissue injuries with objectively verified findings that kept someone from working, exercising, or handling household tasks for a meaningful period. A concussion or similar head injury can also qualify when medical records document limitations on work, driving, concentration, or daily tasks.
In a car accident case, proving serious impairment often turns on evidence such as photos, witness statements, and medical records.
What You Can Recover If You Meet the Threshold
If you meet Michigan’s injury threshold, you may recover damages through a third-party claim against the other driver, including:
- Pain and suffering compensation and loss of enjoyment of life, including emotional distress — Michigan places no statutory cap on these non-economic damages in auto cases, and this is the basis for suffering compensation
- Excess medical expenses beyond your selected pip medical coverage level under PIP (increasingly important since the 2019 reform allowed drivers to choose capped PIP coverage)
- Excess wage loss — wage loss benefits under no-fault pay part of your lost income for up to three years before additional loss can be claimed
Fault still matters: under Michigan’s modified comparative fault rule, your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, and if you were more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover non-economic damages at all.
When the threshold is met, a lawsuit may help you recover damages and seek fair compensation or full compensation from the at-fault party beyond basic no-fault benefits.
What If You Don’t Meet the Threshold?
You still have rights. Even after a minor car accident, an injured victim may still rely on your PIP benefits — medical bills, wage loss, replacement services — regardless of fault and regardless of injury severity if the threshold is not met. And a mini tort claim lets you recover up to $3,000 in vehicle damage repair costs or other property damage from the at-fault driver. It generally must be filed within three years of the date the accident occurred. The threshold only gates the pain-and-suffering lawsuit.
Common Insurance Company Arguments — and Why They Often Fail
The auto insurance company routinely argues that injuries are “subjective,” that pre-existing conditions (like prior back problems) are the real cause, or that you can still do most of your activities. But Michigan law recognizes aggravation of pre-existing conditions as compensable, and the threshold requires only that your ability to live your normal life was affected — not eliminated. These disputes are exactly why threshold cases are so often won or lost on the quality of medical documentation. If the auto insurance company refuses to pay overdue no fault pip benefits, you may file suit to recover compensation, but you can sue for unpaid No-Fault benefits within one year.
How To Protect a Potential Claim
Get medical treatment promptly and consistently, keep all medical appointments, and follow through with treatment while reporting every symptom — gaps and omissions in records are the insurer’s favorite evidence, and complete records better support the claim. Follow through on referrals, imaging, and therapy. Michigan car accident claims often depend on a timely insurance claim for no-fault benefits through your insurance policy, and many car accident claims are strengthened by keeping clear records from the start. Keep a journal of activities you can no longer do or now do with difficulty. And remember the deadlines: personal injury lawsuits are generally subject to a three-year statute of limitations from the date of the accident, PIP benefits must be filed within one year of the accident, and you have one year to file for No-Fault benefits in Michigan; missing these deadlines can mean losing your right to sue or recover benefits. Special statutory notice requirements can apply if the other driver was operating a government vehicle.
The Bottom Line
Yes, you can sue after a Michigan car accident — but after a serious auto accident or car crash, you may have legal options beyond basic no-fault benefits if your injuries clear the serious impairment threshold or involve death or permanent serious disfigurement. The standard is more attainable than insurance adjusters often suggest: an objectively documented injury that affected your ability to live your normal life, even temporarily, can qualify, and in some cases support damages tied to permanent disability or help you recover pain and suffering. If the crash is fatal, a wrongful-death claim must generally be filed within three years by the personal representative of the estate on behalf of eligible family members. If you’ve been seriously hurt, the difference between accepting “you don’t meet the threshold” and having a personal injury attorney or Michigan car accident attorney evaluate your claim and pursue fair compensation can be worth a great deal. If a car accident lawsuit is filed, the legal process can include discovery, where the parties exchange evidence and take witness depositions.