Michigan statute

MCL 500.3114: Priority: Which Insurer Pays PIP

Michigan No-Fault Act, Insurance Code chapter 31

Michigan No-Fault Law, section by section › MCL 500.3114

Persons entitled to personal protection insurance benefits or personal injury benefits; order of priority for claim of motor vehicle occupant or motorcycle operator or passenger; assigned claims plan; 2 or more insurers in same order of priority; partial recoupment; definitions.

In plain terms

The first source of PIP is the injured person's own policy or the policy of a spouse or resident relative. Occupants of vehicles in the business of transporting passengers claim from that vehicle's insurer (with exceptions for buses, school buses, taxis and rideshare vehicles), and employees hurt in employer-furnished vehicles claim from that vehicle's insurer. Occupants with no household coverage go to the assigned claims plan, and motorcyclists injured in a crash involving a motor vehicle claim in a set order that begins with the motor vehicle owner's insurer.

How this section works in practice

Section 3114 answers the question every claim starts with: which insurer pays. The general rule is your own household. A PIP policy covers the named insured, the spouse and any relative of either who lives in the same household, and when both your own policy and a relative's policy could pay, your own insurer pays everything up to its coverage level with no recoupment from the other.

The exceptions follow. Operators and passengers of a vehicle in the business of transporting passengers (a charter bus, a limousine) claim from that vehicle's insurer, except passengers on school buses, common-carrier buses, government or nonprofit buses, taxis and rideshare vehicles, who use their own policies first. Employees hurt in an employer's vehicle claim from the employer's insurer. Occupants who have no household policy at all go to the assigned claims plan under subsection (4); before 2019 they could claim from the vehicle's insurer, which is no longer true.

Subsection (5) sets the order for motorcyclists hurt in a crash involving a motor vehicle: the insurer of the motor vehicle's owner, then its operator, then the motorcyclist's own motor vehicle insurer, then the insurer of the motorcycle's owner. Where two policies sit in the same priority the benefits are capped at the highest single limit, and an insurer that pays can seek partial recoupment from the other.

Text of MCL 500.3114

Sec. 3114.

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), and (5), a personal protection insurance policy described in section 3101(1) applies to accidental bodily injury to the person named in the policy, the person's spouse, and a relative of either domiciled in the same household, if the injury arises from a motor vehicle accident. A personal injury insurance policy described in section 3103(2) applies to accidental bodily injury to the person named in the policy, the person's spouse, and a relative of either domiciled in the same household, if the injury arises from a motorcycle accident. If personal protection insurance benefits or personal injury benefits described in section 3103(2) are payable to or for the benefit of an injured person under his or her own policy and would also be payable under the policy of his or her spouse, relative, or relative's spouse, the injured person's insurer shall pay all of the benefits up to the coverage level applicable under section 3107c to the injured person's policy, and is not entitled to recoupment from the other insurer.

(2) A person who suffers accidental bodily injury while an operator or a passenger of a motor vehicle operated in the business of transporting passengers shall receive the personal protection insurance benefits to which the person is entitled from the insurer of the motor vehicle. This subsection does not apply to a passenger in any of the following, unless the passenger is not entitled to personal protection insurance benefits under any other policy:

(a) A school bus, as defined by the department of education, providing transportation not prohibited by law.

(b) A bus operated by a common carrier of passengers certified by the department of transportation.

(c) A bus operating under a government sponsored transportation program.

(d) A bus operated by or providing service to a nonprofit organization.

(e) A taxicab insured as prescribed in section 3101 or 3102.

(f) A bus operated by a canoe or other watercraft, bicycle, or horse livery used only to transport passengers to or from a destination point.

(g) A transportation network company vehicle.

(h) A motor vehicle insured under a policy for which the person named in the policy has elected to not maintain coverage for personal protection insurance benefits under section 3107d or as to which an exclusion under section 3109a(2) applies.

(3) An employee, his or her spouse, or a relative of either domiciled in the same household, who suffers accidental bodily injury while an occupant of a motor vehicle owned or registered by the employer, shall receive personal protection insurance benefits to which the employee is entitled from the insurer of the furnished vehicle.

(4) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3), a person who suffers accidental bodily injury arising from a motor vehicle accident while an occupant of a motor vehicle who is not covered under a personal protection insurance policy as provided in subsection (1) shall claim personal protection insurance benefits under the assigned claims plan under sections 3171 to 3175. This subsection does not apply to a person insured under a policy for which the person named in the policy has elected to not maintain coverage for personal protection insurance benefits under section 3107d or as to which an exclusion under section 3109(2) applies, or who is not entitled to be paid personal protection benefits under section 3107d(6)(c) or 3109a(2)(d)(ii).

(5) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), a person who suffers accidental bodily injury arising from a motor vehicle accident that shows evidence of the involvement of a motor vehicle while an operator or passenger of a motorcycle shall claim personal protection insurance benefits from insurers in the following order of priority:

(a) The insurer of the owner or registrant of the motor vehicle involved in the accident.

(b) The insurer of the operator of the motor vehicle involved in the accident.

(c) The motor vehicle insurer of the operator of the motorcycle involved in the accident.

(d) The motor vehicle insurer of the owner or registrant of the motorcycle involved in the accident.

(6) If an applicable insurance policy in an order of priority under subsection (5) is a policy for which the person named in the policy has elected to not maintain coverage for personal protection insurance benefits under section 3107d, or as to which an exclusion under section 3109(2) applies, the injured person shall claim benefits only under other policies, subject to subsection (7), in the same order of priority for which no such election has been made. If there are no other policies for which no such election has been made, the injured person shall claim benefits under the next order of priority or, if there is not a next order of priority, under the assigned claims plan under sections 3171 to 3175.

(7) If personal protection insurance benefits are payable under subsection (5) under 2 or more insurance policies in the same order of priority, the benefits are only payable up to an aggregate coverage limit that equals the highest available coverage limit under any 1 of the policies.

(8) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), if 2 or more insurers are in the same order of priority to provide personal protection insurance benefits under subsection (5), an insurer that pays benefits due is entitled to partial recoupment from the other insurers in the same order of priority, and a reasonable amount of partial recoupment of the expense of processing the claim, in order to accomplish equitable distribution of the loss among all of the insurers.

(9) As used in this section:

(a) "Personal vehicle", "transportation network company digital network", and "transportation network company prearranged ride" mean those terms as defined in section 2 of the limousine, taxicab, and transportation network company act, 2016 PA 345, MCL 257.2102.

(b) "Transportation network company vehicle" means a personal vehicle while the driver is logged on to the transportation network company digital network or while the driver is engaged in a transportation network company prearranged ride.

History: Add. 1972, Act 294, Eff. Mar. 30, 1973 ;-- Am. 1975, Act 137, Imd. Eff. July 3, 1975 ;-- Am. 1976, Act 356, Imd. Eff. Dec. 21, 1976 ;-- Am. 1977, Act 53, Imd. Eff. July 5, 1977 ;-- Am. 1980, Act 445, Imd. Eff. Jan. 15, 1981 ;-- Am. 1984, Act 372, Imd. Eff. Dec. 27, 1984 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 38, Imd. Eff. Mar. 7, 2002 ;-- Am. 2016, Act 347, Eff. Mar. 21, 2017 ;-- Am. 2019, Act 21, Imd. Eff. June 11, 2019

Source: MCL 500.3114 at legislature.mi.gov (official text). Text as published in the 2025 Michigan Compiled Laws; reviewed by Koussan Law on September 15, 2026.

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Important: This is not legal advice

This article is general information about Michigan personal injury law. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for consultation with a licensed Michigan attorney about your specific situation. The laws, deadlines, procedures, and frameworks here are general guidelines that may or may not apply to your case.

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