Triple-I Weblog | Michigan No-Fault Reform Yields Fewer Claims, Decrease Premiums

By Max Dorfman, Analysis Author, Triple-I

Michigan’s no-fault system reform regulation, efficient in 2020, has led to private auto insurers paying out fewer claims and lots of drivers paying much less in premiums, in keeping with current analysis by two Triple-I nonresident students.

The examine, No Fault Auto Insurance coverage Reform in Michigan: An Preliminary Evaluation, co-authored by Patricia Born, Ph.D. of Florida State College and Robert Klein, Ph.D. of Temple College, noticed substantial decreases in common legal responsibility premiums and private damage safety (PIP) loss prices in 2022. PIP covers the remedy of accidents to the motive force and passengers of the policyholder’s automobile in a no-fault auto insurance coverage system. 

“Our preliminary analysis of the probably results of the reform laws signifies that it’s considerably decreasing the prices of auto insurance coverage for a lot of Michigan drivers,” the paper states. “How a lot these reductions shall be for any given driver will rely on the PIP possibility they select, amongst different components.”

The common Michigan policyholder paid $2,611 yearly for private auto insurance coverage protection in 2019 and $2,133 in 2022, an 18 p.c lower, in keeping with Insure.com. Earlier than the state’s no-fault auto insurance system reform law took impact in July 2020, Michigan commonly ranked as one of many costliest states within the U.S. for private auto insurance coverage protection.

The 2020 reform regulation’s enactment allowed for:

• Decreasing auto insurer payouts of excessive PIP medical advantages;
• Instituting medical value controls;
• Broadening the state’s authority to control private auto insurance coverage fee filings;
• Making a Fraud Investigation Unit inside the Division of Insurance coverage and Monetary Providers; and
• Limiting auto insurer use of “non-driving” ranking components (e.g., credit-based insurance coverage scores).

Michigan was the one state to supply limitless medical advantages by the PIP portion of an auto insurance coverage coverage. Insurers additionally had been severely constrained in controlling the medical prices arising from PIP claims. This value contributed to a couple of in 4 drivers (26 p.c) on Michigan’s roadways being uninsured in 2019, the Insurance Research Council (IRC) estimated, almost twice the nationwide common (13 p.c). Michigan is considered one of 12 no-fault states within the U.S. These programs permit policyholders to file claims with their very own insurer after an accident, no matter whom precipitated the accident. No-fault states limit lawsuits to critical circumstances and promote quicker declare payouts. 

Study Extra:

IRC Releases State Auto Insurance coverage Affordability Rankings

Why Private Auto Insurance coverage Charges Are More likely to Maintain Rising

Triple-I Points Temporary: Private Auto Insurance coverage Charges