Why The Cheapest Auto Insurance In Michigan Isn’t The Best?

July 21, 2023 by Steven M. Gursten

Just because it’s the cheapest auto insurance in Michigan doesn’t mean it’s the best for you and your family. Going with the cheapest insurance option means assuming big risks and forgoing important medical care if you or your family are ever involved in a serious car accident, and can even mean exhausting your personal savings and being forced to declare bankruptcy due to crushing medical debt.

The cheapest auto insurance costs you valuable coverage

Drivers who bought their car insurance based on it being the cheapest auto insurance who are later injured in a car accident in Michigan will quickly discover that the very relative savings they obtained came at a very expensive cost.   

Some politicians and the auto insurance industry love to talk about No-Fault PIP “Choice” and how drivers can save money by choosing a medical coverage level less than the “unlimited” PIP level that was required by law in Michigan until 2019.

But here’s what they don’t tell you: 

• First, when buying the cheapest auto insurance in Michigan, you’re not truly saving money, you are abandoning protections. Saving money is when you get the same product, but you pay less money for it. When people are opting for a lower level of No-Fault PIP medical benefits, they are paying a little bit less money in their auto insurance premiums, but they are getting drastically less in the way of medical benefits coverage.
• Second, the lower levels of No-Fault medical coverage will be insufficient to cover your medical bills in the event of a serious or catastrophic injury from a car accident, which means you will have to rely on your health insurance. Of course, this is assuming you have it and assuming there is no auto accident exclusion in your health insurance, and assuming you don’t later lose your health insurance.    

Here is a scenario that plays out all to often to those who have the cheapest auto insurance in Michigan. Perhaps you have Medicaid or Medicare, and your insurance agent says that’s enough to protect you if you’ve been involved in a car accident? That also comes at an extreme cost.  Medicaid and Medicare do not  provide the breadth of coverage that injured car crash victims will need. Most likely if you have serious injuries, you will have to pay out of pocket for at least some critical medical care, or you will have to go without medical care and treatment. Being “medically warehoused” in a Medicaid facility is sadly a very real thing that happens far too often to people with serious TBI and spinal injuries. There is also the very real possibility of being forced to exhaust the entirety of your personal savings and having to declare bankruptcy because of crushing medical debt.

The cheapest auto insurance coverage does not mean the best coverage

In Michigan, the best coverage for your car may not be the cheapest auto insurance coverage, but the relatively higher price will more than pay for itself by ensuring you have the medical benefits you need for your car and treatment after being injured in a car.

Our recommended auto No-Fault insurance coverage includes: (1) the unlimited No-Fault PIP medical benefits option; (2) the bodily liability insurance option with $500,000 and $1 million limits; and (3) uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage with $500,000 limits.

Strategies for getting the cheapest auto insurance without sacrificing coverage

In Michigan, comparison shopping is the best strategy for finding the cheapest auto insurance that will provide your family with the necessary coverage in the event they’re injured in a crash. We recommend that you do this every year. Use an independent agent and get quotes from up to 10 auto insurers to consider.  

Other strategies we recommend include: (1) selecting a reasonable No-Fault medical deductible; and (2) coordinating your No-Fault medical and health insurance coverage.