Michigan Mini Tort Law Changes: Limits, Filing, and Deadlines

A Michigan mini-tort claim lets you recover up to $3,000 from an at-fault driver for vehicle damage that your own auto insurance didn’t pay.¹ It’s the narrow exception to Michigan’s no-fault rule, which otherwise sends you to your own insurer for most accident losses and bars you from suing the other driver.² The $3,000 cap applies to accidents on or after July 1, 2020; crashes before that date are stuck under the old $1,000 limit.

The number is a ceiling, not a target. You can only recover what the damage actually cost beyond what insurance covered, up to $3,000.

Who Can File

Two things have to be true before a mini-tort claim works.

The other driver has to be more than 50% at fault. Michigan uses comparative fault here, so your recovery drops by your share of blame. If you were 20% at fault on $2,000 in uncovered damage, you collect $1,600. At 51% or more, you collect nothing.¹

Your own vehicle has to have been insured as Michigan law requires. The statute bars recovery entirely if the damaged car was being driven without required no-fault coverage, no matter how clearly the other driver was at fault.¹

What You Can Actually Recover

Mini-tort only reaches damage “not covered by insurance.”¹ What that leaves on the table depends on the collision coverage you carry.³

With broad form collision, your insurer pays with no deductible when you’re 50% or less at fault, so there’s usually nothing left to claim. If you’re more than 50% at fault, you still owe the deductible and could claim that.
With standard collision, your insurer pays minus your deductible regardless of fault. The deductible is what you chase through mini-tort. This is the most common scenario, typically recovering a $500 or $1,000 deductible.⁴
With limited collision, your insurer pays only when you’re 50% or less at fault (minus the deductible). If you’re more at fault than that, your insurer pays nothing.
With no collision coverage, you can claim the full repair cost up to $3,000, because nothing was covered.

The Parked Car Exception

If your vehicle was legally parked when another driver hit it, the $3,000 cap doesn’t apply. The at-fault driver’s property damage liability coverage pays the full repair bill. A parked car can’t share fault, so the usual no-fault trade-offs fall away. This matters most when repair costs are high enough that $3,000 wouldn’t come close.

What Mini-Tort Doesn’t Cover

Mini-tort is limited to physical damage to the vehicle. Rental car costs during repairs, diminished resale value after the fix, towing, and storage fees aren’t recoverable through it. Rental costs instead fall on your own rental reimbursement coverage if you carry it, or on a separate property damage liability claim against the at-fault driver outside the mini-tort framework.

A mini-tort case also doesn’t settle anything else from the same crash. The outcome can’t be used to resolve personal injury disputes, PIP benefit disagreements, or any other liability questions.¹

How to File

Gather the police report, a written repair estimate from a body shop, and photos of the damage. If the car was totaled, get a total loss valuation instead of the estimate. The police report will have the other driver’s insurance information and an initial fault determination.

Then send a demand letter to the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Identify your vehicle, describe the damage, state the dollar amount, and reference the accident report number and date. Send it by certified mail and attach copies of the repair estimate and police report.

Adjusters typically take 30 to 60 days to review a mini-tort demand. During that window, they verify the policy, review the police report, and may ask for more documentation or inspect the vehicle. If the offer comes in low, ask for the valuation in writing and respond with your own documentation: competing estimates, additional photos, anything specific. Organized and specific pays better than inflated.

If the Insurer Won’t Pay

When the insurance company denies the claim, or the at-fault driver is uninsured and ignores you, the statute points you to the small claims division of your local district court.¹ Filing fees track the amount of the claim:⁵

Up to $600: $25
$601 to $1,750: $45
Over $1,750: $65

If you win, the judge can order the at-fault party to cover your court costs on top of the damages. If the other side tries to move the case to a higher court and then loses, the judge can tack on additional costs against them.¹

How Long You Have

The outside deadline is Michigan’s three-year statute of limitations for property damage.⁶ Don’t use it. Police reports get harder to pull, repair estimates go stale as parts prices move, and the at-fault driver’s insurance situation can change. Get your demand letter out within weeks of the crash.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 500.3135 – Tort Liability for Noneconomic Loss; Exceptions; Cause of Action for Damages; Serious Impairment of Body Function Defined
2
Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. Michigan Auto Insurance Quick Facts
3
Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. Collision Coverage – Michigan Auto Insurance Law
4
Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. Quick Facts – What Is Mini-Tort
5
Michigan Courts. District Court Fee and Assessments Table April 2025
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 600.5805 – Injuries to Persons or Property