Michigan Assigned Claims Plan: Eligibility, Benefits, and Filing

The Michigan Assigned Claims Plan is the state’s last-resort source of no-fault Personal Protection Insurance (PIP) benefits for people hurt in a motor vehicle accident who have no other coverage to turn to. Created under MCL 500.3171, it is administered by the Michigan Automobile Insurance Placement Facility (MAIPF), which reviews applications, decides eligibility, and assigns approved claims to a private insurer that handles payment.¹² You must file within one year of the accident, and medical benefits for most claims are capped at $250,000.

Who Can File a Claim

The plan is not an alternative to buying insurance. It exists for people who genuinely have no other PIP coverage after a motor vehicle accident in Michigan. Under MCL 500.3172, you can apply if any of these describes your situation:³

No PIP insurance applies to your injury.
Coverage might exist, but neither you nor the MAIPF can identify it.
Two or more insurers are disputing which one is responsible, leaving you without benefits in the meantime.
The responsible insurer is insolvent or otherwise unable to pay.

Michigan no-fault law sets a priority order for PIP coverage, and the plan sits below every private option. For most accident victims, the chain starts with the insurer of the vehicle you occupied, then the insurer of the vehicle’s operator, then your own auto insurer or that of a resident relative.⁴ Only when every insurer in that chain is eliminated does the Assigned Claims Plan become available.

Pedestrians, bicyclists, and passengers who do not own a vehicle and do not live with an insured family member are the most common claimants. If you were walking or biking when you were hit, and neither the at-fault vehicle’s owner nor its driver carried insurance, the plan is likely your route to benefits.

Who Is Shut Out

Several groups cannot use the plan, and the exclusions are strict.² The biggest one is for owners and registrants of uninsured motor vehicles. If you owned or had registered a vehicle that was not insured when the accident happened, you cannot use the plan, even if you were not driving that vehicle at the time. The state uses this rule to enforce its mandatory insurance requirement.

The accident also has to arise from motor vehicle use “in this state.”³ Out-of-state residents generally cannot claim benefits unless the crash happened in Michigan and involved a vehicle insured or registered here. And filing a false statement on your application is grounds for immediate denial, with potential legal consequences beyond losing the claim.

The One-Year Filing Deadline

You have one year from the date of the accident to notify the MAIPF of your claim.⁵ Miss it, and you lose access to the plan entirely. This is a hard statutory cutoff, not a soft guideline. If you are hospitalized or unable to handle the paperwork, have someone file for you. The clock does not pause for medical treatment.

A second deadline matters if you later need to sue the servicing insurer for denied or underpaid benefits. You cannot recover any loss incurred more than one year before you file suit.⁶ If bills from early in your treatment go unpaid and you wait sixteen months to file, the earliest unpaid charges are already gone. Track what has not been paid and act before the calendar erases it.

What Benefits You Can Get

Benefits through the plan are the same categories of PIP coverage available under any Michigan no-fault policy, with tighter dollar limits. They cover economic losses only, not pain and suffering.

Medical Expenses

The plan pays for reasonably necessary medical care, recovery, and rehabilitation tied to your injuries. For most claims, total medical benefits are capped at $250,000 per person per accident.⁷ A serious brain or spinal injury can exhaust that cap in a matter of months, so plan accordingly if your injuries are catastrophic.

Wage Loss

If your injuries prevent you from working, the plan reimburses lost income for up to three years from the date of the accident. Because no-fault wage loss benefits are not taxable, the amount is automatically reduced by 15% unless you can show a lower reduction is appropriate.⁸ The monthly maximum adjusts each year for cost of living. For accidents occurring between October 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026, it is $7,201 per month. Pay stubs, tax returns, and employer verification are the standard proof.

Replacement Services

If you cannot do household tasks like cooking, cleaning, yard work, or childcare, the plan reimburses up to $20 per day to hire someone to do them. The limit covers the first three years after the accident and is not adjusted for inflation.⁸ It has not kept pace with real costs, but it is still worth claiming.

Attendant Care From Family

Family members, household members, and others who had a prior relationship with the injured person can be paid for in-home attendant care, but only up to 56 hours per week.⁹ Professional caregivers hired from an outside agency are not subject to that cap. The assigned insurer may agree to pay beyond 56 hours for a related caregiver, but it is not required to.

Survivors’ Loss

If an accident causes a death, dependents can claim survivors’ loss benefits. The base maximum is $1,475 for any 30-day period, adjusted annually for cost of living, and benefits cannot extend beyond three years from the accident date.¹⁰

How to File

Start with the official Application for Personal Protection Insurance Benefits from the MAIPF. You will need the exact date, time, and location of the accident, a description of your injuries, and contact information for every driver and vehicle owner involved. The form can be submitted through the MAIPF’s online portal or by certified mail.

Documentation drives the outcome. A police report establishes who was involved and what happened. Medical records from your initial treatment link your injuries to the crash. If you are claiming wage loss, pull together pay stubs and recent tax returns. Every name, address, and insurance policy number has to be accurate; errors create delays at exactly the moment bills are piling up.

Benefits are reduced by any payments from other sources covering the same loss. Health insurance, disability coverage, and workers’ compensation all offset what the plan pays.³ Disclose every one on the application. Hiding another source of coverage gives the insurer grounds to deny the claim later.

What Happens After You File

Once the MAIPF receives your application, it reviews eligibility and, if your claim qualifies, assigns it to a private insurance company called a servicing insurer. That company handles the day-to-day work: evaluating medical bills, reviewing wage loss documentation, and issuing payments under Michigan’s no-fault rules.² You will receive written notice of the assigned insurer and a claim number.

The servicing insurer has 60 days from the MAIPF’s receipt of your application to tell you in writing what proof of loss it needs.³ Respond quickly to every request. The 12% interest penalty on overdue benefits does not run during any period the claim is “reasonably in dispute,” so slow responses on your end give the insurer room to hold payment.

The MAIPF can also suspend benefits if you fail to cooperate with its investigation, which includes sitting for an examination under oath and attending requested medical examinations.² A suspension is not a permanent denial, but the gap in payments while you are suspended can be serious if the plan is covering your medical care or lost wages.

If You Are Denied or Underpaid

When the MAIPF denies a claim, it has to notify you in writing and explain why.² That written denial is the starting point for any challenge. Michigan law lets you sue the servicing insurer or the MAIPF if you believe the denial or underpayment was wrong.

Two financial consequences fall on insurers that unreasonably refuse or delay payment. Overdue no-fault benefits accrue interest at 12% per year. And a court can order the insurer to pay your attorney’s fees on top of the benefits owed if it finds the refusal or delay unreasonable.¹¹ The attorney fee rule shifts litigation costs to the insurer and makes it easier to find a lawyer willing to take a no-fault case without upfront payment from you.

Keep the one-year-back rule in mind the whole way through. Every month you wait after an unpaid bill is incurred is a month closer to losing the ability to recover it in court.⁶

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3171 – Assigned Claims Plan
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3173a – Eligibility for Benefits; Initial Determination; Denial; Notice; False Statement
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3172 – Conditions to Obtaining Personal Protection Insurance Benefits Through Assigned Claims Plan
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3114 – Persons Entitled to Personal Protection Insurance Benefits
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3174 – Notice of Claim
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3145
7
State of Michigan. Frequently Asked Questions
8
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3107 – Expenses and Work Loss for Which Personal Protection Insurance Benefits Payable
9
State of Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. Bulletin 2019-22-INS – Attendant Care Hourly Limitations
10
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3108 – Survivors Loss Benefits
11
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3148 – Attorney Fees