What counts as a soft tissue injury
Soft tissue injuries affect muscles, ligaments and tendons rather than bone. In car crashes the most common is whiplash, a strain or sprain of the neck from rapid back-and-forth motion, often in rear-end collisions. Others include shoulder and back strains, and seat belt bruising of the chest and abdomen. Symptoms can include neck pain and stiffness, headaches, reduced range of motion, and pain spreading into the shoulders or arms.
No-fault pays for treatment regardless of fault
Your PIP insurer pays for reasonably necessary care: doctor visits, physical therapy, chiropractic care, medications and imaging, up to your coverage level. If your doctor takes you off work, wage loss pays 85% of gross pay up to $7,455 per 30 days for accidents from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. Household help pays up to $20 a day. None of this requires meeting a threshold.
Insurers often cut off soft tissue treatment after a few months, typically after an insurer medical exam concludes the injury has resolved. If your doctor disagrees, see benefits denied or cut off.
Why the pain and suffering claim is harder
A claim against the at-fault driver for non-economic damages requires a serious impairment of body function (MCL 500.3135). The Michigan Supreme Court in McCormick v Carrier held that subjective complaints of pain are insufficient, but evidence of a physical basis for the pain can show an objectively manifested impairment. The statute does not require that the impairment be permanent, so a soft tissue injury that significantly disrupted your life for a period can qualify.
Evidence that can make a soft tissue claim
- Muscle spasm, measured loss of range of motion and positive clinical tests documented by a physician
- Imaging that reveals a related structural problem, such as a disc or ligament injury
- Nerve testing if symptoms spread into the arms or legs
- Physician-written restrictions on work, lifting and activity
- Consistent treatment without unexplained gaps
- People who can describe what you stopped doing
What weakens these claims: waiting weeks to see a doctor, stopping therapy early, inconsistent descriptions of pain, and social media that shows activities you told doctors you cannot do. See social media and your claim.
Be careful early
The other driver’s adjuster may call within days, ask for a recorded statement, and offer a quick payment. A release signed then ends the claim even if symptoms later turn out to be from a disc injury. See what not to say to an adjuster.
Vehicle damage up to $3,000 that your own insurance did not pay can be claimed from the at-fault driver through a mini-tort claim, whether or not you were hurt. See property protection and the mini-tort.
Get evaluated now. Symptoms from neck injuries can build over the first days. A gap between the crash and your first treatment is one of the most common reasons insurers deny that the crash caused the injury. The lawsuit deadline against the driver is three years (MCL 600.5805(2)).
Sources: MCL 500.3135(1), (5); McCormick v Carrier, 487 Mich 180 (2010); MCL 500.3107; MCL 600.5805(2); DIFS Bulletin 2026-20-INS.
Questions people ask us
Can I sue for whiplash in Michigan?
Only if the whiplash caused a serious impairment of body function: an objectively manifested impairment of an important body function that affects your general ability to lead your normal life. Many whiplash injuries resolve and do not meet that test; some do, especially when objective findings and documented restrictions exist.
Will no-fault pay for whiplash treatment?
Yes. PIP pays reasonably necessary treatment for any crash injury, including soft tissue injuries, up to your coverage level, without any threshold requirement.
Why do insurers discount soft tissue claims?
Because soft tissue injuries often do not appear on X-rays or MRIs, and the law requires more than subjective pain for a pain and suffering claim. The response is objective evidence of how the injury limits you.