Michigan Requires Liability Plus Personal Injury Protection
Michigan law requires every registered vehicle to carry bodily injury liability of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident, property damage liability of $10,000, and personal injury protection coverage at a tier you select. These minimums apply whether you own one car or five, and the Secretary of State will not register a vehicle without proof of coverage meeting these thresholds.
The state operates under a modified no-fault system introduced by the 2019 auto insurance reform. Your own PIP coverage pays your medical expenses after an accident, regardless of who caused the collision. Liability coverage pays for damage you cause to others. Both components are mandatory, but PIP offers tiered options that let you choose your medical coverage ceiling.
Compare car insurance rates in your state
Get quotes from licensed carriers — no obligation, no spam, results in minutes.
Get Your Free QuoteMichigan Minimum Liability Limits
$50,000 / $100,000 / $10,000
Bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident, and property damage per accident. These are the floor amounts required to register any vehicle in Michigan. Driving without them triggers license suspension and reinstatement fees.
Michigan Secretary of State vehicle code
Personal Injury Protection Tiers Replace Unlimited Medical
Before 2019, Michigan mandated unlimited lifetime medical coverage under PIP. You select your tier when you buy the policy, and that choice controls how much your insurer will pay for your medical expenses after a crash.
The tier you choose does not affect the liability minimums. You still owe $50,000/$100,000/$10,000 in liability coverage regardless of whether you select unlimited PIP or opt out entirely. The PIP tier is about protecting yourself; liability is about protecting others. Both are required unless you meet the narrow opt-out criteria.
If you have health insurance that meets state standards, you can opt out of PIP medical coverage entirely and rely on your health plan for accident-related injuries. Medicare enrollees can also opt out. These opt-outs lower your premium but leave you without the wage-loss and replacement-services benefits PIP otherwise provides. Most households with multiple vehicles choose a mid-tier PIP option rather than opting out, because health insurance rarely covers wage loss or in-home care after an accident.
Your PIP tier applies to every vehicle on the policy.
What Each Mandatory Coverage Actually Pays
Bodily injury liability pays medical expenses, lost wages, and pain-and-suffering damages for people you injure in an accident you cause. The $50,000 per person limit means your insurer will pay up to that amount for any single injured person; the $100,000 per accident limit caps total payments across all injured parties in one collision. Property damage liability pays to repair or replace another person's vehicle or property you damage, up to $10,000. These minimums are low compared to the cost of a serious multi-vehicle accident, which is why many drivers carry higher liability limits.
Personal injury protection pays your medical expenses, wage loss up to three years, replacement services for tasks you can no longer perform, and survivor benefits if you die in an accident. The coverage applies to you, your household members, and passengers in your vehicle, regardless of who caused the crash. Your selected PIP tier sets the medical payment ceiling; wage loss and replacement services are capped by statute at amounts indexed annually. PIP also covers pedestrians and cyclists you strike, even if they do not own a vehicle.
Related Articles
Proof of Insurance and Registration Enforcement
The Secretary of State requires proof of insurance before issuing registration plates. Your insurer files electronic confirmation directly with the state when you buy a policy. If your coverage lapses, the insurer notifies the Secretary of State within five days, and your registration is suspended immediately.
You must carry proof of insurance in the vehicle at all times. Acceptable proof includes the insurance card your carrier provides, a digital copy on your phone, or a printed declaration page. Officers can verify coverage electronically during a traffic stop, but you are still required to produce proof on request. Failure to show proof is a separate infraction even if you have active coverage.
If you let coverage lapse on any vehicle registered in your name, the Secretary of State suspends your registration and driving privileges until you reinstate. The state does not offer payment plans for reinstatement fees.
Michigan Uninsured Motorist Rate
22.3%
More than one in five drivers on Michigan roads carries no insurance, despite the mandatory coverage law. This rate is among the highest in the nation and explains why uninsured motorist coverage, though not required, is widely recommended.
Insurance Research Council 2023
Optional Coverages Worth Considering
Uninsured motorist coverage is not required in Michigan, but the state's 22.3% uninsured rate makes it a practical addition. This coverage pays your medical expenses and vehicle damage when an at-fault driver has no insurance or flees the scene. It functions as a backup to the liability coverage the other driver should have carried. Many carriers bundle uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage together, protecting you when the at-fault driver's limits are too low to cover your losses.
Collision and comprehensive coverages are optional unless your vehicle is financed or leased. Collision pays to repair your car after an accident regardless of fault; comprehensive pays for theft, vandalism, weather damage, and animal strikes. These coverages carry deductibles you select when you buy the policy, typically $500 or $1,000. If your vehicle is worth less than ten times the annual cost of collision and comprehensive combined, dropping them and self-insuring the vehicle's value is often the better financial decision.
Compare Carriers That Write Michigan PIP Tiers
Not every carrier writes all six PIP tiers, and premium differences between carriers are wider in Michigan than in most states because of the PIP tier structure. Some carriers specialize in unlimited medical policies; others focus on the lower tiers and opt-out options. The liability minimums are identical across all carriers, but the PIP tier you select and the carrier you choose together determine your total premium. Comparing quotes from multiple carriers that write your preferred PIP tier is the only way to confirm you are not overpaying for the coverage Michigan requires.