• How can we make Detroit auto
insurance affordable?
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
can-we-make-auto-insurance-detroit-
more-affordable/100018602/)
• Aggressive solicitation comes after
auto accidents in Detroit
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
car-insurance-lawyers-accidents-
solicitation/100301782/)
• Tired of no-fault fraud in Michigan,
insurers turn to racketeering suits
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
insurance-racketeering-lawsuits-
michigan-fraud/100301902/)
• How aggressive lawyers, costly
lawsuits and runaway medical bills
make Detroit car insurance
unaffordable
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
fault-auto-insurance-detroit-
michigan/100326640/)
• Why does auto insurance in Detroit
cost so much?
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
car-insurance-expensive-
cost/101374948/)
• How Michigan got — and kept — no-
fault auto insurance
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
nofault-insurance-history-
detroit/100301828/)
• To a paralyzed woman needing
lifetime care, no-fault benefits are
priceless
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
fault-lifetime-medical-benefits-for-
accident-victims/100301948/)
• Detroit car insurance: 6 other factors
behind the cost of auto insurance
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
car-insurance-6-other-factors-behind-
cost-auto-insurance/100992680/)
• No-fault car insurance in Michigan:
Here's how it works
(http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/
fault-car-insurance-michigan-heres-
how-works/100668458/)
But the lawsuit — and thousands like it filed each year in Wayne County Circuit Court, involving over tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills and in-
home benefits — helps explain why Detroit drivers face the highest average auto insurance rates in the country, often more than $3,000 a year for a
single vehicle.
Overall, Michigan residents pay the third-
highest car insurance rates nationwide,
according to the latest figures released by the
National Association of Insurance
Commissioners.
While carjackings, vehicle thefts, and even
racist "redlining" are commonly discussed
reasons for the high rates in Detroit, a Free
Press investigation finds that runaway medical
bills, disability benefits payouts and
lawsuits under Michigan’s one-of-a-kind, no-
fault insurance system play a key role in driving
up costs.
Michigan's system allows for unlimited lifetime
benefits. In the 11 other states that have no-
fault insurance, benefits are capped.
The Free Press investigation found:
FAULT INSURANCE
• A SURGE IN LAWSUITS: The
number of lawsuits generally filed by
motorists and passengers in
accidents who are seeking benefits
from their own auto insurance
companies — called first-party
lawsuits — have nearly quadrupled
in Wayne County since 2004, even
as accidents have dropped. They
now comprise more than two-thirds
of the lawsuits in the state.
• HIGH MEDICAL BILLS: Some MRI
centers that appear frequently in no-
fault lawsuits in metro Detroit charge
as much as $5,300 for an MRI that
would cost less than $1,000 at other
facilities or about $500 under
Medicare. People involved in
accidents, who are often free to go
to any provider, sometimes get
steered to specific centers where
the billing is higher. Plaintiffs in
accidents will visit medical providers
for months on end to bolster
separate negligence lawsuits
against drivers of the other vehicle.
• PRICY PERSONAL CARE: Some doctors routinely declare people disabled for months after seemingly minor accidents, providing an
opportunity for relatives or friends to get paid hundreds of dollars a week for attendant care to help with basic needs such as meal
preparation and dressing. Medical transportation services routinely charge auto insurance companies $100 to almost $200 a day to shuttle
no-fault patients to and from a single medical appointment — even one just 2 miles away.
• SOLICITATION OF VICTIMS: It is illegal in Michigan to solicit people who have been in accidents for commercial purposes, such as legal
services or physical therapy, within 30 days of the car crash. But in a review of hundreds of lawsuits filed in Wayne County, the Free Press
found multiple examples of people being solicited within hours or days of an accident.
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