Michigan insurance laws do not require drivers to carry uninsured motorist coverage. However, it’s highly recommended due to Michigan’s high rate of uninsured drivers—especially in urban areas like Detroit
, Flint
, and Battle Creek
where as many as half the drivers (if not more) don’t carry sufficient Michigan insurance coverage. Michigan car insurance laws
include some of the highest minimum requirements in the country. The result is exceptionally expensive insurance—and in return, many drivers choose to go without it. Without complete coverage, getting into an accident with an uninsured driver leaves you with all the bills. That’s where uninsured motorist coverage
comes in.Figuring out if additional coverage is right for you can be tricky on your own, so car insurance
super app Jerry
is here to help. We’re covering everything you need to know about uninsured motorist coverage in Michigan, and we’ll even throw in a quick tip to lower your Michigan car insurance costs
so you can afford even more coverage! RECOMMENDEDNo spam or unwanted phone calls · No long forms
Do you need uninsured motorist coverage in Michigan?
You don’t need uninsured motorist coverage under Michigan law—but you should seriously consider it.
The most recent data from the Insurance Information Institute (III)
estimates that 25.5% of Michigan drivers are uninsured, making it second only to Mississippi
for the most uninsured drivers in the country. A quarter of Michigan’s driving population is nearly two million drivers—just think about how many drivers you pass on the road in a single day. That leaves you with a one in four chance of getting into an accident with an uninsured driver. But here’s the catch: uninsured motorist coverage can help you out even if the other driver has insurance. Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage kicks in to cover any remaining medical expenses after your own personal injury protection (PIP)
and the other driver’s liability insurance
have been taken into account. It may be hard to imagine another Michigan driver’s insurance not being able to cover your injury costs given the state’s high requirements. But consider this: Michigan welcomes around 120 million out-of-state tourists a year. A driver visiting from nearby Illinois
, for example, is only required to carry half the amount of liability that Michigan requires. UIM coverage could easily come to the rescue in an accident with one of the many out-of-state visitors. One perk of adding uninsured motorist coverage to your policy is that it’s relatively cheap. The national average cost for a good amount of UM coverage is $75 to $150 per year, though these averages are likely to be higher in Michigan due to the number of uninsured drivers. Still, the relatively low cost of UM coverage could easily outweigh the risk of an accident without it.
How uninsured motorist insurance works in Michigan
Uninsured motorist insurance in Michigan covers any remaining costs for pain and suffering after your personal injury protection (PIP) and an at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability coverage—or lack thereof—has been taken into account.
Michigan’s minimum auto insurance requirements are some of the highest in the country and include the following:
$100,000 per accident in bodily injury liability
Varying amounts of personal injury protection (PIP) depending on your health insurance policy
$1,000,000 in property protection insurance (PPI)
As far as UM/UIM coverage is concerned, the types of coverage we want to focus on are personal injury protection (PIP) and bodily injury liability.
Michigan is a no-fault state
, meaning you go through your own insurance after an accident no matter who’s at fault. Your personal injury protection will cover your medical expenses up to the amount you have on your policy—which could amount to $0 if you have a qualifying health insurance policy that covers car accidents. Any medical expenses remaining after your PIP has been applied should be covered by the bodily injury liability insurance of the other driver—if they actually meet Michigan’s insurance requirements. If not, your UM/UIM coverage would step in to pay out any remaining medical expenses covered by your limits.
Key takeaway UM/UIM coverage pays for any remaining medical expenses not covered by your personal injury protection (PIP) and the other driver’s liability insurance—or lack thereof.
What’s available
There are two distinctions between UM/UIM coverage available in Michigan:
Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage (UM/UMBI): pays covered expenses for you and your passengers after an accident with an uninsured driver.
Underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage (UIM/UIMBI): pays covered expenses after an accident where the other driver carries insufficient coverage—typically not exceeding the minimum requirements.
Note that neither UM nor UIM coverage covers property damage, meaning they won’t pay for damage to your vehicle.
While neither UMBI nor UIMBI is required on your Michigan car insurance policy by law, insurance companies are required to offer at least $50,000 per person and up to $100,000 per accident.
What it covers
UM/UIM bodily injury coverage in Michigan covers expenses for pain and suffering associated with injuries sustained in a car accident with a driver lacking proper coverage.
“Pain and suffering” is a bit broad, but this generally includes excess wage loss and excess medical expenses left after your no-fault PIP has been applied for you and your passengers. UM/UIM pain and suffering coverage can also include, but is not limited to:
Rehabilitation and nursing expenses
Home medical equipment, such as a wheelchair
Home modifications necessary to accommodate injury or rehabilitation
Services that you would otherwise be able to complete on your own
How to make a claim
It’s important to collect as much information as possible after a car accident
, including: The other driver’s insurance information, and
Photos, notes, witness accounts, and other information pertaining to the circumstances and results of the accident.
If you or your passenger have sustained physical injuries and the other driver involved in an accident doesn’t carry sufficient bodily injury liability insurance, it’s time to file a UM/UIM claim.
You’ll file a UM/UIM claim just like you would file any car accident claim—by calling your insurance company. In addition to explaining the circumstances of the accident, you’ll also need to be able to prove the following:
The other driver involved was legally at fault for the injuries
The other driver does not carry the proper insurance
If the other driver does carry bodily injury insurance but it's not enough to cover you or your passenger’s injury expenses, you’ll need to prove that the other party’s liability insurance was applied to your expenses to the fullest extent and it was still not enough.
The more documentation you can supply, the better, including medical bills, insurance claim results, police reports, and more. If your claim is approved, then your UM/UIM insurance will cover the remaining expenses up to your predetermined limit. After that, you’ll need to cover any remaining expenses by other means.
Why it’s a good idea to buy uninsured motorist insurance in Michigan
Uninsured motorist coverage may seem like just another thing to pay for considering Michigan is already one of the most expensive states for insurance. But this is exactly why uninsured motorist coverage in Michigan is so important! After all, many of Michigan’s drivers choose to neglect the legal requirements because they’re so expensive.
More than one in four Michigan drivers is uninsured
Michigan has the second largest percentage of uninsured drivers in the country, second only to Mississippi. These populations are even more concentrated in major cities like Detroit and Flint.
You may wonder why you should buy additional coverage to account for drivers who don’t follow the law but remember: UM coverage is about protecting your upfront expenses.
Resolving an accident with an uninsured driver can take a long time, and you’ll still have bills to pay in the meantime. UM/UIM coverage is the only way to protect yourself from high upfront expenses associated with an accident involving any of the one-in-four uninsured drivers on Michigan’s roads.
Hit-and-runs make up roughly 10% of car accidents in Michigan
UM/UIM coverage is also instrumental when you’re the victim of a hit-and-run
. Hit-and-runs where the responsible driver fled the scene of the accident made up more than 10% of Michigan car accidents in 2018 alone. If you are the victim of a hit-and-run, you won’t be able to get insurance information from the responsible driver to cover the hit-and-run damages.
Uninsured motorist coverage can help cover the bodily injury expenses of a Michigan hit-and-run. Personal injury protection also covers these costs but may not be enough on its own, depending on your coverage limit.
How to save on uninsured motorist coverage in Michigan
The only real argument against uninsured motorist coverage is that it adds even more costs to your already expensive Michigan car insurance. Though UM coverage doesn’t cost much, an extra $250 or so a year on your policy can be a dealbreaker depending on your financials.
Look to Jerry
to help you make room in your insurance budget for uninsured motorist coverage in Michigan. Just download our trustworthy licensed insurance broker super app
, and you’ll find the most competitive coverage offers in less than a minute. We source our quotes from over 55 of the nation’s top-rated providers to find you real-time savings without any of the work! And just like that, lowering your Michigan insurance costs has never been easier. The average Jerry user saves over $800 a year, which leaves plenty of room—and then some—to add UM coverage to your policy.
“I was struggling to find an affordable deal in Detroit, MI because insurance here is so expensive. I definitely could not have found a better deal without Jerry
!” —Marlin M.
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