Complete Car Accident Lawsuit Guide

You were hurt in a car accident, and now there are medical bills, time off work, a damaged car and insurance adjusters calling. Here’s the plain answer. In most states, the driver who caused the crash pays for your injuries through their liability insurance, and if the claim doesn’t settle, you can sue that driver. In the 12 no-fault states, including Michigan, your own insurance pays your medical bills first, whoever caused the crash, and you can usually sue the other driver only in limited cases, such as serious injuries. Either way, the deadline to sue usually starts running on the day of the crash.

You’re far from alone. In 2024, police in the United States reported about 6.18 million crashes. About 1.68 million of them injured someone but killed no one, an estimated 2.42 million people were hurt, and 39,254 people died, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Rules differ by state, and where Michigan’s differ, you’ll find them in a box marked “In Michigan.”

Hurt and not sure where you stand? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

What should you do right after a car accident?

The first days shape your health and your claim:

1. Get safe and get help. Call 911 if anyone is hurt, and stay at the scene.
2. Document everything. Swap names, phone numbers, insurance details and plate numbers. Photograph the vehicles, the road and your injuries, get witnesses’ contact details, and ask how to get the crash report.
3. Get medical care promptly, and describe every symptom. A gap in treatment makes an injury harder to prove, and insurers use gaps to cut offers. See symptoms that can show up after a crash.
4. Tell your own insurer promptly, as your policy requires, and ask for your policy and its declarations page (the summary of your coverages and limits).
5. Be careful with the other driver’s insurer. You don’t have to give it a recorded statement, and it’s safer not to before you’ve had advice. Don’t accept an offer or sign a release until you know the full extent of your injuries: signing a release usually ends your claim.

Not ready to talk to anyone yet? Keep our checklist of 10 things to do after a car accident handy for the next few days. If a teen was driving, see first steps for teen drivers after a crash.

Who pays after a car accident: the other driver or your own insurance?

It depends on your state’s insurance system. At-fault and no-fault states compare like this, based on Triple-I, an insurance industry research group:

As of September 2026, Triple-I’s 12 no-fault states are Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Utah. In three of them, Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, drivers can choose a policy that keeps the full right to sue. Some at-fault states, which Triple-I calls add-on states, also have your own insurer pay first-party benefits, as no-fault states do, without limiting lawsuits.

How does an at-fault state work?

In an at-fault state, also called a tort state (a tort is a wrong that causes someone harm), the driver who caused the crash is responsible, and lawsuits aren’t restricted (Triple-I). You claim against that driver’s bodily injury liability coverage, which pays for injuries a driver causes to others, and you can sue if the claim doesn’t settle. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the organization of state insurance regulators, explains that coverage and says state minimum limits usually aren’t enough to fully protect a driver’s assets. Meanwhile, medical payments coverage (MedPay) on your own policy, if you have it, pays for treating your injuries (NAIC). Health insurance may pay too, though your plan may want to be repaid from your settlement.

How does a no-fault state work?

In a no-fault state, you claim first from your own policy’s PIP, no matter who caused the crash. PIP pays for treating injuries to you and your passengers and can also cover lost wages and funeral costs, up to the policy’s limit (NAIC). In exchange, lawsuits are limited. You can sue for serious injuries and for pain and suffering only if your case passes a threshold: either a description of a serious injury (a verbal threshold, as in Michigan) or a dollar amount of medical bills (a monetary threshold) (Triple-I).

PIP amounts vary widely. Florida’s required PIP covers up to $10,000 in medical and disability benefits, paying 80% of reasonable medical expenses (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)). It is still in the 2026 Florida Statutes; a 2026 repeal bill died in committee (Florida Senate, SB 522).

Can you sue the driver who caused the crash?

In an at-fault state, yes, if you file before the deadline. In a no-fault state, you can sue for pain and suffering only if your injury passes the threshold, or if you kept the full right to sue in a choice state. The claim is against the driver, and anyone else who shares responsibility. The driver’s liability insurance covers them up to its limit and pays for a lawyer to defend them. Losses beyond the limit are the driver’s own responsibility (NAIC; DIFS).

Where else can the money come from?

Check every possible source:

• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) on your own policy pays if an uninsured or hit-and-run driver hits you, or if the at-fault driver doesn’t have enough insurance to pay your loss fully (NAIC). Some states require it; in others it’s optional (NAIC). See how UM and UIM claims work.
• Collision coverage on your own policy pays to repair your car, after your deductible (NAIC; DIFS).
• The driver’s employer, if the driver was working, can be responsible under a rule called vicarious liability (Cornell LII).
• A trucking company. Interstate for-hire carriers hauling ordinary freight in vehicles rated at 10,001 pounds or more must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage (49 CFR 387.9). See truck accident claims and how truck crashes differ from car crashes.
• A government agency, if a government vehicle or a badly kept road played a part. Some of these claims have short notice deadlines.
• The maker of a defective vehicle or part. See how product liability claims work.

How is fault decided after a car accident?

Most car accident claims are negligence claims. Negligence is failing to use the care a reasonable person would use in the same situation. To win, you generally must show the other driver owed you a duty of care, broke it, and caused your injuries (Cornell LII), and prove it’s more likely than not, a standard called the preponderance of the evidence (U.S. Courts).

The proof usually comes from the police crash report, photos and video, witnesses and the damage to each vehicle. Under a doctrine called negligence per se, a driver who breaks a safety law without an excuse can be treated as negligent as a matter of law, and traffic violations are the most common example (Cornell LII). Michigan uses a softer rule: a jury may infer negligence from the violation unless the driver shows a legally sufficient excuse, then decides whether the violation caused the crash (M Civ JI 12.01, 12.02). An adjuster’s view of who was at fault is a negotiating position, not a finding.

What if you were partly at fault?

Being partly to blame usually doesn’t end a claim. Most states use comparative negligence, which reduces your damages by your share of the fault: if you’re 20% at fault, you receive 80% of your damages (Cornell LII). Many states bar recovery once your share reaches 50% or 51%. A few places, Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C., still follow contributory negligence, an older rule that can bar recovery for any fault at all (Cornell LII). See each state’s shared-fault rule.

Does the type of crash matter?

Each kind of crash raises its own questions about fault and evidence. See our guides to rear-end crashes, side-impact (T-bone) crashes, head-on collisions, multi-car pileups, hit-and-run crashes, crashes with semis and other big trucks, motorcycle crashes and parking lot crashes, or start with the most common types of car accidents.

What can a car accident claim cover?

The money a court awards for your losses is called damages. Compensatory damages make up for what you actually lost (Cornell LII), and they come in two kinds:

• Economic damages: losses you can add up, such as medical bills, lost wages, other out-of-pocket costs and the value of your damaged car (Cornell LII).
• Noneconomic damages: harms that don’t come with a receipt, such as pain, emotional distress and the loss of activities you used to enjoy (Cornell LII).

If someone died in the crash, the family may have a wrongful death claim. Who brings it, and who shares the money, depends on the state; see how wrongful death claims work.

How long do you have to file a car accident claim?

Every state sets a deadline for filing an injury lawsuit, called a statute of limitations, and the length varies. Michigan allows three years for most injury lawsuits (MCL 600.5805(2)). Florida cut its deadline for negligence lawsuits from four years to two for claims that arose after March 24, 2023 (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a); ch. 2023-15, Laws of Fla.). The clock usually starts when you’re hurt, not when you learn how badly: in Michigan, a claim accrues when the wrong is done, regardless of when the damage shows up (MCL 600.5827).

Shorter deadlines can come first:

• Your own policy. UM and UIM coverage is part of your insurance contract, which can set its own time limit. In one Michigan case, two people learned the other driver was uninsured only after suing her, more than a year after the crash. Their policy required uninsured motorist claims within one year, and the Michigan Supreme Court enforced that limit as written, which ended their claim (Rory v Continental Insurance Co, 2005).
• Government claims can need written notice within months, as Michigan’s list below shows.

Talking with an adjuster doesn’t stop the clock. Filing a lawsuit that is then served on time does (in Michigan, MCL 600.5856).

Not sure which insurer pays first, or how close your deadline is? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

How does a car accident claim become a lawsuit?

Most claims start with an adjuster, not a judge. The usual path:

1. The claim and the demand. You or your lawyer send the insurer your medical records, bills and proof of lost income. Once your doctors can say what your recovery and future care will look like, the claim is often summed up in a written demand, and the adjuster makes an offer.
2. Filing the lawsuit. If the claim doesn’t settle, you file a complaint with the court and serve a copy on the defendant (U.S. Courts): the driver who caused the crash, plus anyone else who shares responsibility.
3. Discovery. Each side gathers information from the other (U.S. Courts): written questions answered under oath, documents such as medical records and photos, and a deposition, where the other side’s lawyer questions you under oath (in Michigan, MCR 2.309, 2.310 and 2.306). If your condition is in dispute, a court can order a medical exam (in Michigan, MCR 2.311).
4. Settlement talks. Judges encourage the two sides to reach an agreement (U.S. Courts), and some courts send cases to mediation or a similar process before trial.
5. Trial. If nothing settles, a judge or jury decides who was at fault and what the losses are worth (U.S. Courts). Few cases get this far. In a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics study of state courts in 2005, about 4% of tort cases were resolved by a trial, and automobile accident cases made up nearly 60% of the tort cases that did go to trial (BJS).

What is a car accident claim worth?

No one can honestly price your claim without knowing the facts. An “average” settlement mixes fender-benders with life-changing injuries, so it says little about yours; our guide to car accident settlement amounts explains what published averages mean. These are the things that move the number:

• How badly you were hurt, and for how long: treatment, surgery, lasting limits and time off work.
• Your documented losses: medical bills, lost income and future care, backed by records.
• Fault: your share of the blame cuts your recovery under your state’s rule.
• The insurance available: the at-fault driver’s limits, your own UIM coverage and any other responsible party. Losses beyond all of that have to come from the driver personally.
• Your state’s rules: in a no-fault state, the threshold decides whether pain and suffering is on the table.
• The evidence: photos, witnesses, consistent treatment records and a clear timeline.

Adjusters weigh the same things; see how insurance companies evaluate injury claims. What you take home is the settlement minus your lawyer’s fee, case costs and any repayment owed to a health plan or other payer, so ask for a written estimate of your share before you accept an offer.

Do you need a lawyer after a car accident?

Not always. If only your car was damaged, or a minor injury healed quickly and your bills are paid, you may be able to handle the claim yourself. A lawyer makes more sense when:

• you were seriously hurt, or aren’t sure your injury passes your state’s threshold
• fault is disputed, or the insurer says you share the blame
• the at-fault driver had little or no insurance, or your own insurer is delaying or denying benefits
• a truck, a government vehicle, a bad road or a drunk driver was involved, which can add parties and shorten deadlines
• someone died in the crash

Advice helps most before you give a recorded statement or sign a release, and well before a deadline. See when you need a personal injury lawyer.

How do you choose a car accident lawyer?

• Check the license and discipline record with your state’s lawyer-licensing agency.
• Ask about experience with crash cases like yours, and who will handle yours day to day.
• Understand the fee. Injury lawyers often work on a contingency fee: a share of what’s recovered, and no fee if nothing is. Ask how case costs are handled, and get it in writing.
• Read results with care. Our directory of Michigan personal injury lawyers lists firms by city with their Google ratings and the $1 million-plus verdicts and settlements each firm reports on its own website. Most of those results are reported by the firms and not independently verified; those confirmed by a news report or court record are marked, and past results don’t guarantee a similar outcome (how we rank firms).
• Talk to more than one. Bring these questions to ask an injury attorney, and see how to find the right lawyer for your case.

What to do next

1. Get medical care, and keep every record: bills, pay stubs, mileage to appointments and a short daily log of what you can’t do.
2. Write down your deadlines, including the shorter ones: your policy’s UM and UIM limits, government notices and, in Michigan, the one-year PIP notice. Send every notice in writing and keep a copy.
3. Gather your insurance papers: your policy and declarations page, the other driver’s insurance details and the crash report.
4. Say less to the other side’s insurer. No recorded statement and no release until you’ve had advice and know how badly you’re hurt.
5. Get a free case review. Tell us what happened in four quick questions, at no cost. In Michigan, you can also compare injury lawyers near you.

What waiting can cost

• Your right to sue. A lawsuit filed after the deadline is generally barred, however strong the case (in Michigan, MCL 600.5805(1)).
• Coverage you already paid for. A policy deadline can end a UM or UIM claim before you know you need it, as it did in Rory.
• Benefits tied to quick action. Florida’s PIP requires initial care within 14 days of the crash (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a)), and Michigan’s requires written notice within a year (MCL 500.3145(1)).
• Evidence. Cars get repaired or scrapped, video gets recorded over, and witnesses get harder to find.

What a good outcome looks like

Your medical bills go to the right insurer and get paid, and your lost income is covered while you heal. Every notice goes out on time. If someone else caused the crash, their insurance pays fair compensation for your injuries, and coverage you already paid for fills any gap. You know your lawyer’s fee before you sign, and you make each decision with the facts and the deadlines in view. From wondering who pays after a crash to knowing how fault and insurance work in your state, what a claim can cover and how long you have.

For more, browse our car, truck and motorcycle accident guides or the complete guide to personal injury claims. In Michigan, start with the plain-English guide to Michigan injury law.

Updated September 24, 2026

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state. Reading this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.