Michigan Personal Injury Laws & Statutory Rules

If you've been injured in a Michigan accident, you may be wondering which laws will apply to your insurance claim or lawsuit. In this article, we'll summarize some of the most important of these state laws.

Deadlines for Filing a Michigan Injury Lawsuit

Like all other states, Michigan has a law that limits how long you have to file a court case after an injury. This law is known as a statute of limitations, and it affects any case you might file against a person or company you believe to be responsible for your injury.

In Michigan, you have three years to bring a personal injury lawsuit to court against the at-fault party. If you don't get your lawsuit started in line with this rule, the court may refuse to hear it at all. Usually, the three-year time limit starts on the date of your accident, but if you don't "discover" you are injured until some time after the accident, the three-year "clock" may start running on the discovery date instead.

For injury claims against a state government agency, you have six months to file a formal claim (120 days if it's regarding a defective highway or public building), and two years to file a lawsuit if your formal claim is denied or is not acted upon. See: Injury Claims Against The Government

Michigan's Comparative Negligence Rule

In some cases, you may try to hold a person or company liable for your injuries, only to see them turn around and say that you are partly or totally to blame for your own accident. If you are partly at fault for your injuries, the amount you can recover from other at-fault parties may be reduced or even eliminated in Michigan.

Michigan uses a "modified comparative fault" rule to resolve cases in which the injured person is found to be partly at fault. Under this rule, damages are reduced if the injured person is found to share any amount of fault, and damages are eliminated altogether if the injured person is found to be 50 percent or more at fault.

Here's an example. Suppose you're driving a few miles per hour above the posted speed limit, when another driver runs a red light and hits your car. You suffer severe injuries, and your case goes to trial, after which the jury finds that you're 10 percent at fault, while the other driver is assigned 90 percent of the fault. If the total damages in your case equal $100,000, Michigan's modified comparative fault rule will kick in to award you $90,000 -- equal to the $100,000 total minus $10,000 that represents your 10 percent of the fault.

Michigan courts are required to apply the modified comparative fault rule in injury lawsuits. When you talk to an insurance adjuster about your claim, don't be surprised if the adjuster brings up the comparative fault rule as well.

Michigan's No-Fault Car Insurance Laws

Michigan uses a "no-fault" system when it comes to auto insurance, meaning that in most accidents, each party's insurance provides coverage for medical bills and certain other out-of-pocket losses, regardless of who was at fault for the accident.

Michigan law prohibits you from going to court after a car accident except in certain serious cases. In order to step outside of no-fault and file a lawsuit against the other driver, an injured person must have suffered:

• death,
• serious disfigurement, or
• serious impairment of a bodily function.

In addition, these conditions must be "objectively manifested," meaning they must be based on tangible medical evidence.

Michigan no-fault law also contains a "minitort" provision that allows you to bring a small claims case for property damage up to $1,000. The minitort provision does not, however, apply to injuries suffered in an accident.

Since the terms in Michigan's no-fault injury laws are a little vague, you'll need to consider the negotiating room they provide when you're trying to reach an insurance settlement. See this article on no fault claims for more information.

"Strict" Liability for Dog Bite/Attack Cases

In many states, dog owners are protected (to some degree) from injury liability the first time their dog injures someone if they had no reason to believe the dog was dangerous. This is often called a "one bite" rule. In Michigan however, a specific statute (Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 287.351) makes the owner "strictly liable", meaning regardless of the animal's past behavior, the dog owner is responsible for a personal injury caused by his/her dog. Specifically, the statute reads:

"If a dog bites a person, without provocation while the person is on public property, or lawfully on private property, including the property of the owner of the dog, the owner of the dog shall be liable for any damages suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness."

Damage Caps in Michigan Medical Malpractice Cases

Laws on damage caps create limits on the amount or types of damages an injured person may receive in certain types of cases -- or for certain types of harm. (Our companion article on damages in injury cases provides more information.) Most often, these laws limit non-economic damages, also known as "pain and suffering."

Michigan sets caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. As of January 2017, this cap is $445,500 for "pain and suffering" and other non-economic damages in most kinds of malpractice cases, but it jumps to $795,500 for malpractice cases where death or certain catastrophic disabilities occur.

Learn More About Michigan's Personal Injury Laws

If you want to read more about Michigan's personal injury laws, go to Michigan's official online code at Michigan Compiled Laws Section 500 (no-fault insurance) and Michigan Compiled Laws Section 600 (personal injury claims).