Personal Automobile Insurance
The policy parts
Part A liability (split limits or a combined single limit), Part B medical payments, Part C uninsured and underinsured motorists, Part D damage to your auto (collision and other than collision), and Part E duties after an accident. Definitions drive the exam: your covered auto, newly acquired auto, temporary substitute, and non-owned auto.
Michigan no-fault
Michigan requires residual liability limits of at least 20/40/10, personal injury protection (PIP) for medical expenses and wage loss, and property protection insurance (PPI) up to $1,000,000 for damage the insured causes to Michigan property. Tort liability for ordinary negligence is limited: a lawsuit for non-economic damages requires death, permanent serious disfigurement, or serious impairment of body function. Property damage claims are limited to the mini-tort of up to $3,000 for damage to the other vehicle, and only if the at-fault owner had insurance. Since the 2019 reform, buyers select PIP limits: unlimited (the default), $500,000, $250,000, or $50,000 for people with qualifying health coverage, with the Medicaid option limited to Medicaid enrollees. The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association reimburses insurers for PIP claims above a retention threshold. Uninsured motorist coverage must be offered but may be rejected in writing.
Traps
A newly acquired auto gets 14 days of automatic coverage, but only 4 days for collision when the policy carries collision on no vehicle. A temporary substitute must be a non-owned vehicle used because of breakdown, repair, servicing, loss or destruction. Using a private passenger auto as a public livery or delivery vehicle is excluded.
Rule of thumb
No-fault eliminates most tort claims but not all: the serious-injury threshold and the $3,000 mini-tort survive.