Michigan requires drivers to have no-fault insurance. It’s important to understand how this type of policy works, what other coverage you may need — like collision coverage — and exactly what types of payouts to expect.
If you have a family, one of your biggest concerns regarding auto accidents is what will happen to your family if you’re killed in a wreck. Will the insurance pay them anything after you’re gone or are they on their own financially?
The policy will pay to help cover lost wages. The amount is different for everyone, and it’s based on 85 percent of your projected earnings. This money can be paid to your family for three years, the same amount of time you’d be paid if you were hurt and couldn’t go back to work.
So, if you make $4,000 per month, your family would get a max of $3,400 each month. It could be less, depending on how much your family would actually have received, based on a variety of factors.
There is also a maximum. This does change from time to time and it’s important to track these changes and always know what the max is during any given year. As of 10/1/15, it was set at $5,398 per month. Even if you realistically earned far more than that, your insurance would not provide additional compensation to your family.
Insurance can be complicated, but it’s important to fully understand what’s legally expected of you and what your policy provides, seeing as how the policy can be so important to your family’s well-being in the event of a deadly accident.
Source: Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, “Brief Explanation of Michigan No-Fault Insurance,” accessed Feb. 03, 2017
