Michigan PIP Coverage Levels: What Happens After a Crash

Maybe the hospital billing office asked which PIP level you carry, and you had to look it up. Maybe a parent is in rehab and a claim letter named a limit nobody in the family remembers choosing. The coverage level on a Michigan auto policy now shapes who pays for medical care after a crash and for how long.

Auto accident attorneys at Vahdat Weisman Law represents people hurt in crashes across Michigan, including claims that continue after PIP benefits stop. Call (734) 469-4994 for a free consultation. No attorney fee unless we recover for you.

The PIP Medical Choices and What Each One Means

For policies issued or renewed after July 1, 2020, the named insured picks a limit on personal protection insurance (PIP) medical benefits (MCL 500.3107c). The state’s insurance regulator lists six options on its Choosing PIP Medical Coverage page:

• Unlimited
• Up to $500,000
• Up to $250,000
• Up to $250,000 with one or more people excluded
• Up to $50,000 for people enrolled in Medicaid
• Opt out of PIP medical, for people with Medicare Parts A and B

Each limit is “per individual per loss occurrence,” so it applies to each injured person for each crash. It covers allowable expenses, including hospital bills and attendant care. Lost wages and household replacement services are separate PIP benefits with their own caps, and your medical choice does not shrink them. Our page on PIP wage loss benefits covers those.

If no effective selection was made, the policy is treated as unlimited (MCL 500.3107c(4)). That default carries an exception discussed below.

Whose Limit Applies to You

Suppose you live with the policyholder. The choice binds the named insured, a spouse, and any relative of either “domiciled in the same household” (MCL 500.3107c(5)). An adult son living at home is held to his mother’s selection even though he never saw the form.

Suppose you were a passenger or a pedestrian. The order starts with your own policy, then a spouse’s, then a resident relative’s, each at that policy’s level (MCL 500.3114(1); MCL 500.3115). The driver’s insurer is not next in line, as it was before 2019. If no household policy applies, the claim goes through the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MCL 500.3114(4)), where medical benefits stop at $250,000 (MCL 500.3172(7)). Riding in a vehicle your employer owns, or in certain commercial passenger vehicles, can change the order (MCL 500.3114(2), (3)).

If two policies apply, they do not stack. The total available is the highest single limit among them (MCL 500.3107c(6)).

If You Choose $250,000 or $500,000 and It Runs Out

The auto insurer pays covered care up to the limit and then stops paying for allowable expenses. From there, three sources can come into play.

Your health insurance. It pays under its own terms, with its own deductibles and exclusions. Some services no-fault pays for, such as paid family attendant care, may not be covered at all.

A claim against the at-fault driver. Michigan law preserves a lawsuit for allowable expenses “in excess of any applicable limit under section 3107c” (MCL 500.3135(3)(c)). That includes future care. You do not have to prove a serious impairment of body function to recover these economic losses; that threshold governs pain and suffering (MCL 500.3135(1)). The injured person’s share of fault reduces any recovery, and the claim generally must be filed within three years (MCL 600.5805(2)).

Your own underinsured motorist coverage. The at-fault driver’s bodily injury coverage defaults to $250,000 per person and $500,000 per crash, but a driver can sign a form choosing as little as $50,000 and $100,000 (MCL 500.3009(1), (5)). That same policy also covers pain and suffering. Underinsured motorist coverage is optional, and its terms come from the policy (Bianchi v Auto Club of Michigan, 437 Mich 65 (1991)); see our uninsured and underinsured motorist claims page.

A capped policy also stretches further than the number suggests in one respect: for injuries on or after June 11, 2019, the insurer pays providers under the fee schedule in MCL 500.3157, not their full charges. People hurt before that date are outside the amended fee schedule (Andary v USAA Casualty Insurance Co, 512 Mich 207 (2023); Fremont Insurance Co v Lighthouse Outpatient Center, Docket No. 370500 (Mich Ct App, April 11, 2025)).

If You Choose $250,000 With an Exclusion

This option lets a household exclude people whose health coverage pays for auto injuries (MCL 500.3109a(2)). An excluded person “is not eligible” for PIP medical benefits under that policy, so that person’s health plan becomes the main payer.

The health plan has to be “qualified health coverage”: it cannot exclude or limit auto-accident injuries, and the individual deductible must be at or below a figure that started at $6,000 and is adjusted for inflation (MCL 500.3107d(7)(b)). That figure is $6,579 through June 30, 2027 (DIFS Bulletin 2026-08-INS).

Because an excluded person gave up PIP medical, the claim against the at-fault driver for allowable expenses runs “without limit” (MCL 500.3135(3)(c)). If the health coverage ended and the household had not replaced it within 30 days, an injury inside that window goes to the Assigned Claims Plan, which pays up to $2,000,000 for that group (MCL 500.3109a(2); MCL 500.3172(7)).

If You Opted Out Because You Have Medicare

The opt-out is available only when the named insured has Medicare Parts A and B, and the spouse and every resident relative have qualified health coverage or PIP under another no-fault policy (MCL 500.3107d(1)). The election reaches everyone in the household (MCL 500.3107d(5)).

After a crash, Medicare pays under Medicare’s rules, and household members turn to their own health plans. A household that opted out is generally not routed to the Assigned Claims Plan (MCL 500.3114(4)), except during the same 30-day gap after health coverage ends (MCL 500.3107d(6)(c)).

You can sue the at-fault driver for allowable expenses without limit (MCL 500.3135(3)(c)). After recovery, Medicare’s conditional payments “must be repaid to Medicare when a settlement, judgment, award, or other payment is made” (CMS), so repayment must be part of any settlement plan.

An opt-out that did not meet every condition may not hold. In a published 2026 decision, a mother on Medicare opted out while her adult son, who lived with her, had only Medicaid. Medicaid is not qualified health coverage, so the election failed, and the policy was treated as unlimited for everyone on it (Northland Radiology, Inc. v. Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., Docket No. 374214 (Mich Ct App, March 25, 2026)).

If You Chose $50,000 Through Medicaid

The $50,000 limit is available only if the named insured is enrolled in Medicaid and the spouse and resident relatives have qualified health coverage, Medicaid, or their own no-fault PIP (MCL 500.3107c(1)(a)). Once the $50,000 is used, Medicaid becomes the main payer for an enrolled person, and Medicaid may seek repayment from a later recovery. The claim against the at-fault driver for expenses above $50,000 remains (MCL 500.3135(3)(c)).

What If You Never Signed the Selection Form?

A limit below unlimited has to be chosen in one of three ways: a marked and signed form, a recorded verbal instruction, or an electronic signature that meets Michigan’s electronic transactions law (MCL 500.3107e(2)). If a verbal selection is disputed, it is presumed ineffective, and the insurer must produce the recording. A typed name on a form “does not, by itself, establish” a valid electronic signature (Bronson Health Care Group, Inc v Esurance Property & Casualty Insurance Co, Docket No. 363486 (Mich Ct App, Sept 28, 2023)).

A missing signature does not automatically make the policy unlimited. If a premium was paid, the law presumes it reflects the applicable coverage level, and that presumption can be rebutted (MCL 500.3107c(3)). The Court of Appeals has enforced a $250,000 limit on that presumption where no valid selection existed (Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital v Esurance Property & Casualty Insurance Co (Mich Ct App, March 2, 2026)). Unpublished decisions have also held that a new form is not required at each renewal (Michigan Ambulatory Surgical Center v Esurance, Docket No. 369465 (Mich Ct App, Feb. 13, 2026)), and have applied the presumption to a $50,000 selection by someone not on Medicaid (VHS of Michigan, Inc v Michigan Automobile Insurance Placement Facility, Docket No. 375886 (Mich Ct App, Aug. 7, 2026)).

So ask the insurer for the selection record itself and for how the premium was calculated.

Where Unlimited Coverage Fits

Unlimited PIP pays reasonably necessary allowable expenses, at fee-schedule rates, for as long as the injury requires them. The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association reimburses insurers for the largest claims, those above $675,000 on policies issued or renewed from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027. Its assessment for July 2026 through June 2027 is $84 per vehicle with unlimited PIP and $19 per vehicle at every other level, including opt-out (MCCA 2026 consumer statement). Disputes over unlimited claims are covered on our no-fault PIP benefits disputes page.

Why Choose Vahdat Weisman Law?

A capped PIP claim usually has more than one payer. Our work is to establish which policy and limit apply, test the selection form when the limit is in question, track when benefits are exhausted, and build the claim against the at-fault driver for expenses above the limit, accounting for any Medicare or Medicaid repayment.

From our Livonia office, we represent injured people and their families throughout Michigan. Founding partners Kara E. Weisman and Jordan S. Vahdat have each been honored as Super Lawyers Rising Stars. Our attorneys are members of the State Bar of Michigan and active in the Michigan Association for Justice. We advance case costs, we work in English and Spanish, and we are available 24/7.

Frequently Asked Questions

• I chose $250,000. What happens when it runs out? The auto insurer stops paying allowable expenses, and health insurance pays under its own terms. You can also sue the at-fault driver for medical expenses above the limit, including future care, without meeting the serious impairment threshold (MCL 500.3135(3)(c)). Wage loss is a separate benefit and is not reduced by the medical limit.
• My policy says $50,000, but I don’t remember signing anything. Is that my limit? Possibly. Without a valid signed, recorded, or electronic selection, the policy defaults to unlimited unless the insurer can rely on the presumption that the premium paid reflected the $50,000 level (MCL 500.3107c(3), (4)). Whether you were enrolled in Medicaid when the policy was issued or renewed also matters.
• I was a passenger. Whose limit applies? Your own policy, a spouse’s, or a resident relative’s comes first, at that policy’s limit. If none applies, the Assigned Claims Plan pays up to $250,000 (MCL 500.3114(4)), and the application is due within one year of the crash (MCL 500.3174).
• Can I sue the other driver for medical bills PIP doesn’t pay? Yes, for allowable expenses above your limit, and without limit if you opted out or were excluded. The at-fault driver’s coverage may be as low as $50,000 per person, so your own underinsured motorist coverage can matter.

About the Author

Jordan S. Vahdat is a founding partner of Vahdat Weisman Law in Livonia and handles negligence, premises liability, auto accident, and insurance dispute cases. He has been admitted to all Michigan state courts since 2014, practices in the Eastern District of Michigan, and has served as a case evaluator for the Washtenaw Circuit Trial Court and the 15th District Court since 2020. He is fluent in Spanish.

Talk to a Michigan No-Fault Lawyer About Your Coverage Level

If your PIP limit is running out, or you are not sure which limit applies, call Vahdat Weisman Law at (734) 469-4994 or contact us online for a free consultation. Available 24/7, serving all of Michigan, with Spanish-speaking staff.

Reviewed by Jordan S. Vahdat, Vahdat Weisman Law. Last reviewed October 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future success.