The Michigan Legislature recently passed extensive amendments to Michigan’s no-fault act. Although no-fault reform had been talked about for years, it never really gained any traction. And then these sweeping amendments came out of the blue, being passed literally overnight and with little forewarning. They happened so fast, in fact, that the Legislature itself did not have time to fully process the changes it was making. Thus, less than two weeks later the Legislature was essentially required to amend its amendments in order to correct several errors that were made during the hasty first go-round.
From the perspective of the claims adjuster, it likely seems a daunting task to figure out how these extensive, hastily-passed amendments will impact your day-to-day claims handling activities. For instance, some of these amendments will not take effect for approximately two years. Others, however, became effective June 11, 2019. To the average claims adjuster it may not be readily apparent which amendments have already become effective and, thus, you need to be worried about now. Nor may it be clear what exactly it means for a particular amendment to have become effective as of June 11, 2019. Still yet, you may be uncertain what changes you may need to make in your daily claims handling activities in response to those amendments.
Thus, in the coming weeks we will be issuing a series of articles addressing those amendments that have already become effective. In doing so, our goal is to provide you with a succinct explanation of each amendment, describe how it will impact no-fault claims going forward, and provide an overview of how you may need to alter your day-to-day claims handling responsibilities to compensate for each amendment. Our hope is that this series of articles, coupled with the presentations that will be given at GLM’s Troy Breakfast Seminar and GLM’s Basics of Michigan Automobile No-fault Insurance Law Course, will equip you with all the expertise you need to continue effectively adjusting no-fault claims.
