Who pays my PIP benefits if I’m injured in a car accident while in a limo, ambulance or shuttle bus?

by Steven M. Gursten

Michigan’s No-Fault law delineates the insurance required to pay your PIP insurance benefits when occupying limousines, airport shuttles, etc.

This is the third blog in my series about who pays No-Fault PIP benefits for people who are injured in auto accidents under different scenarios.

Michigan has “priority” laws – rules contained in our No-Fault Act – that create an “order of priority” for accident victims. The first thing our insurance lawyers do when someone calls us who has been injured in a car accident is determine which of the more than 100 auto insurance companies in Michigan has the highest priority (legal responsibility) to pay an auto accident victim’s PIP benefits.

If you were injured in a Michigan motor vehicle accident and you were driving or riding as a passenger in “a motor vehicle operated in the business of transporting passengers” such as a limousine, an ambulance or an airport shuttle, then, under Michigan courts’ interpretation of the Michigan No-Fault Law, you should:

File your claim for No-Fault benefits with the No-Fault “insurer of the motor vehicle,” i.e., the No- Fault insurer of the limousine, ambulance or airport shuttle. (MCL 500.3114(2))

Of course, after nearly 20 years of doing this type of work and helping people injured in accidents, I can tell you that sometimes these shuttle services are not so willing to comply and give injured accident victims the name of the No-Fault insurer, so they can file an application for benefits and set up a PIP claim.