The five disqualifications in MCL 500.3113
A person is not entitled to PIP benefits if, at the time of the crash, any of these was true:
- Stolen vehicle. The person was willingly operating or using a vehicle that was taken unlawfully and knew or should have known it was.
- Uninsured owner or registrant. The person owned or registered a vehicle involved in the crash that did not have the required no-fault security.
- Nonresident. The person was not a Michigan resident, unless they owned a vehicle registered and insured in Michigan. See out-of-state drivers.
- Excluded driver. The person was driving a vehicle on which they were named as an excluded operator.
- Rideshare or car-sharing exclusion. The person owned or operated a vehicle whose coverage was excluded under a policy exclusion for rideshare driving or peer-to-peer car sharing (sections 3017 and 3018).
What “owner” means
Owner is broader than the name on the title. Under MCL 500.3101, it includes a person renting a vehicle or having the use of it, under a lease or otherwise, for more than 30 days, and a person buying it on an installment contract.
On July 7, 2026, in Abdulla v Progressive Southeastern Insurance Co, the Michigan Supreme Court held that a trucker was an owner of a tractor titled to his own one-member LLC, and was barred from PIP because the tractor lacked no-fault coverage. The Court said the question is whether the person had the right to use the vehicle for more than 30 days, not how much they actually used it or whose name is on the title. Regular use of a family member’s uninsured car can create the same problem.
Owners do not have to buy the policy themselves. In Dye v Esurance (2019), the Supreme Court held that the bar does not apply when someone else, such as a relative, insured the owner’s vehicle.
When the uninsured vehicle was not driven
Security is only required while a vehicle is driven or moved on a highway (MCL 500.3101(1)). An uninsured car parked in a driveway that is not “involved” in the crash does not trigger the bar. If you own an uninsured car you were not using and you were hurt as a passenger in someone else’s insured car, or as a pedestrian, the owner bar should not apply. These facts deserve a careful look before an insurer’s denial is accepted.
Who still qualifies, and who pays
- Passengers who did not own the uninsured vehicle
- Pedestrians and cyclists hit by an uninsured driver
- Drivers of a borrowed car who were not owners under the 30-day rule
- Household members of an uninsured owner, if they were not owners themselves
The claim goes first to policies in your household under the priority rules. If none applies, it goes to the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan, which caps medical benefits at $250,000 and requires the application to be received within one year of the crash.
Suing the at-fault driver
MCL 500.3135(2)(c) bars damages to a person who was operating their own vehicle without the required insurance. That bars the uninsured owner-driver’s claim for pain and suffering. It does not bar passengers, pedestrians or people driving someone else’s car. Uninsured people who qualify can still pursue the at-fault driver for noneconomic damages if they meet the serious impairment threshold.
A policy rescinded by an insurer after the crash does not count as “uninsured” for this purpose. In Wilmore-Moody v Zakir (2023), the Supreme Court held that a post-accident rescission does not let the at-fault driver use this bar. See policy rescission.
Apply to the assigned claims plan within one year. If no policy covers you, the MACP application must be received within one year of the crash under MCL 500.3174. Waiting to see whether an insurer will pay often uses up that year. The deadline calculator shows the date.
Sources: MCL 500.3101; MCL 500.3113; MCL 500.3135(2)(c); MCL 500.3172; MCL 500.3174; Abdulla v Progressive Southeastern Ins Co (Mich. Sup. Ct., July 7, 2026); Dye v Esurance Prop & Cas Ins Co (Mich. Sup. Ct., July 11, 2019); Wilmore-Moody v Zakir (Mich. Sup. Ct., May 31, 2023).
Questions people ask us
I was a passenger in an uninsured car. Can I get no-fault benefits?
Usually, yes, if you did not own or register that car. You claim through your own household’s policies first, and if none applies, through the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan.
I drove someone else’s uninsured car. Am I barred?
Not by being uninsured alone. The bar in MCL 500.3113(b) applies to owners and registrants. But a person who has the use of a vehicle for more than 30 days can be an owner under the statute, and the Supreme Court applied that rule in Abdulla v Progressive (2026).
Can I sue the at-fault driver if I was uninsured?
If you were operating your own vehicle without required insurance, MCL 500.3135(2)(c) bars damages for pain and suffering. Other uninsured claimants, such as passengers and pedestrians, can generally still sue the at-fault driver.