A serious car accident can change your life in an instant. What seemed like an ordinary commute to work can end in medical appointments, missed work, financial stress, and uncertainty about what comes next. Some injuries improve within weeks. Others can affect Lansing families and their loved ones for much longer.
Ingham County continues to see thousands of crashes each year, and as traffic increases, so do the risks facing drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Many claims come from people who have never been in a car accident before, but the insurance adjusters handle these cases for a living and often get a head start on building their file.
An experienced attorney from Nicolet Law can help protect your interests from the beginning, from investigating the crash and preserving evidence to dealing with insurance companies and pursuing the compensation available under Michigan law. For the full breakdown of Michigan's no-fault system, PIP levels, and what the tort threshold means across all claim types, see our Michigan car accident lawyers page.
This page contains information on what lies ahead, what you can expect, and how Nicolet Law can help.
Call 1-855-NICOLET or contact us online for a free consultation. You do not pay attorney's fees unless we recover money for you.
Injured? Get Nicolet.
Lansing Car Accident Lawyer Statistics
Both the state and the crash data program publish figures for Ingham County and Lansing.
- Ingham County recorded 8,853 crashes, 26 fatal crashes, 27 deaths, 1,611 injury crashes, and 2,194 injuries in 2025, on the Ingham row of the Michigan State Police 2025 County Crash Report (county level).
- The city of Lansing recorded 3,370 crashes, 7 fatal crashes, 8 people killed, 677 injury crashes, and 939 people injured in 2024, while East Lansing recorded 1,315 crashes and no traffic deaths, on the city table in the Michigan Traffic Crash Facts 2024 traffic crash summary (city level).
- 1,634 of Ingham County's 2025 crashes happened on Interstates and 4,726 on local streets, in the roadway-class columns of the Michigan State Police county crash report (county level). City-street crashes outnumber freeway crashes nearly three to one, which is why intersection sight lines and signal timing decide so many liability disputes here.
- Michigan recorded 290,221 crashes, 1,002 fatal crashes, and 1,065 traffic deaths in 2025, per the Michigan State Police 2024 to 2025 comparison, along with 5,781 suspected serious injuries in 2024, per the Michigan Traffic Crash Facts general facts report (state level).
- Michigan drivers paid an average of $1,443.45 for auto insurance in 2023 against a national average of $1,281.60, on Table 4 of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners premium supplement (state and national). Michigan drivers pay above the national average for a system that still requires documentation before it pays.
Behind each of these numbers is a household absorbing hospital bills, lost time at work, and a claim that may be stalling. If a car accident in Lansing has changed your daily life, a Lansing car accident lawyer from Nicolet Law can investigate what happened, handle insurance companies, and pursue a claim that reflects the full impact of your injuries.
How Does the One-Year Rule Work in a Michigan Car Accident Claim?
The "one-year rule" is actually two different rules found in the same statute, and each serves a different purpose.
The filing rule
MCL 500.3145 says that a claim for PIP (Personal Injury Protection) must be pursued within specific time limits. A lawsuit for unpaid PIP benefits cannot be filed more than one year after a crash unless: 1) the injured person gave notice of the injury to the insurer in that first year, or 2) the insurer paid PIP benefits previously for the injury.
The damages cap
If notice was given or a payment made, suit may be filed within one year of your most recent expense. Even then, you cannot recover benefits for any part of the loss incurred more than one year before the filing date.
| Timeline | Effect on benefits |
|---|---|
| Crash occurs, no notice given | The one-year filing clock starts running immediately |
| Written notice given inside 12 months | Filing deadline extends, tied to the most recent expense |
| Insurer pays any previous PIP benefit | Filing deadline extends the same way |
| A specific claim is made, and the insurer has not formally denied it | The period is tolled from claim to formal denial, added by the 2019 reform |
| Suit filed at month 24 | Generally only benefits incurred from month 12 to month 24 are recoverable |
| Suit filed at month 36 | Generally only benefits incurred from month 24 to month 36 are recoverable |
Separately, the claim against the at-fault driver runs three years under MCL 600.5805(2). If a road condition or a government vehicle was involved, the deadlines are shorter, including a 120-day notice period for road defect claims under MCL 691.1404. Exceptions exist and depend on what happened in the intervening months. That is exactly why a review now beats a review later.
What Does Your PIP Coverage Level Actually Cover?
Medical expenses, part of your lost wages, and household help, up to whatever limit you selected.
The three benefits PIP pays
MCL 500.3105 makes these benefits payable without regard to fault. MCL 500.3107 defines them:
- Allowable medical expenses
- Work loss for up to three years at 85 percent of income
- Replacement services up to $20 per day for three years
What are the PIP limits?
MCL 500.3107c has required a coverage selection since July 1, 2020, with options of:
- $50,000 for Medicaid-enrolled named insureds under specified conditions
- $250,000
- $500,000
- Unlimited
Drivers holding Medicare Parts A and B may opt out of PIP entirely under MCL 500.3107d. If no effective selection was made and no premium-based presumption applies, unlimited is the statutory default.
Work loss is capped per 30-day period and the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services resets it annually. Its current bulletin sets that maximum at $7,455 per 30-day period beginning October 1, 2026. When your PIP limit runs out, the excess medical expense and wage loss can be pursued from the at-fault driver under MCL 500.3135. The state's no-fault guidance covers the consumer side of these rules.
When Can You File a Claim Against the Driver Who Hit You?
For economic damages, you can file an at-fault claim against the driver for any damages that exceed PIP limits.
For pain and suffering, only when the injury clears the statutory threshold. MCL 500.3135 permits non-economic damages when the injured person suffered death, permanent serious disfigurement, or a serious impairment of body function.
The 2019 amendments wrote the definition into the statute: the impairment must be objectively manifested, meaning perceivable by someone other than you, must affect an important body function, and must affect your general ability to lead your normal life. There is no minimum duration and no permanence requirement.
In practice, the fight is about documentation. Two people with the same MRI findings can end up with very different outcomes depending on whether their medical records describe specific functional limitations or simply record pain.
Michigan also allows a limited vehicle damage recovery. The mini-tort provision at MCL 500.3135(3)(e) permits up to $3,000 from the at-fault driver for vehicle damage insurance did not cover, for crashes after July 1, 2020. It requires no threshold injury and is not a substitute for an injury claim.
Why an early number is a low number
Insurers open low because the first offer usually arrives before the diagnosis is finished. That number then becomes the anchor for every later round of negotiation. A claim valued before treatment stabilizes cannot account for the care still ahead of you.
If your benefits have stalled or your treatment is being denied as unnecessary, the clock is a live problem. Call 1-855-NICOLET or contact us online for a free consultation. You do not pay attorney's fees unless we recover money for you.
How Is Fault Divided in a Michigan Crash?
Proportionally, and Michigan is more forgiving than some states.
What partial fault actually costs you
Under MCL 600.2959, damages are reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are found more than 50 percent at fault, non-economic damages are barred, but economic damages such as medical bills and wage loss remain recoverable, reduced by your share.
Do passengers get their conduct reviewed too?
A passenger is usually in a strong position, yet that position is still reviewed. Adjusters may ask about restraint use, about anything an occupant may have done that pulled the driver's attention away, and about what each person knew regarding the driver's condition before the trip. Those are routine questions in these files, and ones better handled by a lawyer who is familiar with them, than from a passenger who is not.
Michigan does not require uninsured motorist coverage
Drivers here are not required to carry uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. The state's auto insurance guide lists both as optional, and because that coverage is purely contractual, its notice and consent-to-settle provisions are enforceable as written. We can read those before anyone signs a release.
What Does Nicolet Law Do on a Lansing Car Accident Case?
We take over the parts that are working against you.
We can:
- Obtain the crash report and photograph the scene and vehicles
- Request commercial video along the corridor before it is overwritten
- Put the PIP carrier on notice properly and pursue the benefits
- Challenge treatment denials with treating-physician documentation
- Obtain prior imaging when pre-existing conditions are raised
- Read every policy for available coverage layers
- Value future care and lost earning capacity with support rather than assertion
- File suit when an insurer stops negotiating
Nicolet Law has recovered more than $500,000,000 for clients and holds more than 2,500 five-star reviews. Several of our attorneys worked claims for insurers before joining the firm, and we have registered medical professionals on staff. That means we know how to review medical charts and we can anticipate how the insurance company will interpret them. We build each file as though it will be tried.
How our fee works
We handle car accident claims on a contingency fee, which is a percentage of what we recover rather than an hourly rate. You pay nothing up front, and no attorney's fees are owed if there is no recovery. The percentage and the case costs are in writing before you sign.
Schedule a free consultation with a Lansing car accident lawyer. Call 1-855-NICOLET or contact us online. We work on a contingency fee, so you do not pay attorney's fees unless we recover money for you.
Injured? Get Nicolet.
FAQs About Lansing Car Accident Lawyers
It has already been more than a year since my crash. Is it too late to file a PIP claim?
If you gave written notice of injury to your insurer within the first year, or the insurer paid any PIP benefit, the filing deadline works differently, and the claim against the at-fault driver still runs for three years. What is likely lost is the older portion of benefits, which is why a review now is better than a review later.
My insurer says my treatment is not reasonably necessary. Can they do that?
They can take that position, and we can contest it with treating-physician documentation.
What if the crash involved a state or city vehicle?
The claim can proceed, and the deadlines often change substantially. Michigan's motor vehicle exception under MCL 691.1405 makes a governmental agency liable for injury caused by the negligent operation of a vehicle it owns, and claims against the State of Michigan require verified notice within six months. In the capital region, this comes up more often than people expect.
Does a student driver or a car full of students change the claim?
It can change the practical picture. The East Lansing corridor produces a high volume of crashes involving young drivers, out-of-state policies, and vehicles titled in parents' names. Michigan's owner liability statute can extend liability to a vehicle owner whose family member was driving with consent, which sometimes brings a second policy into the case.
Can I recover if I was hit by someone driving a company car?
Often yes, and there may be more coverage available. Commercial policies frequently carry higher limits than personal auto policies, and an employer can be responsible both as vehicle owner and for the employee's negligence in the course of employment. Identifying the employment relationship early affects how the whole claim gets built.
Do I have to accept the insurer's valuation of my totaled vehicle?
No. Property damage valuation is negotiable and separate from your injury claim, and you are not required to use the insurer's preferred repair shop. Keep the repair estimate and photographs, since evidence of impact severity often matters later when an insurer argues the crash was too minor to cause injury.
Legal Resources About Michigan Car Accident Claims
Still have questions about car accident claims? While there is no substitute for a one-on-one conversation with an attorney, we do have attorney-curated resources that go over frequently asked questions about car accidents.
- What To Do After a Car Accident
- How Long After a Car Accident Can I Claim Injury?
- Why Do I Have to Pay Back My Own Insurance Company?
No two crashes produce the same claim. If you were injured in Lansing, Michigan, call 1-855-NICOLET or contact Nicolet Law through our online contact form for a free case evaluation.