If you were hurt because someone else was careless, such as a driver who ran a red light or a store that left a spill on the floor, you may have a personal injury claim: the right to be paid for your losses by whoever caused the injury, usually through their insurance. Most claims are negligence claims, which means showing that someone failed to use reasonable care and that this caused your injury. Very few end in a trial. Every claim has a deadline, though, often counted from the day you’re hurt.
If you’re in pain, the bills are arriving and an adjuster is already calling, it’s normal not to know where you stand. This guide explains how injury claims work and points you to the detailed guide for what happened to you. Michigan’s rules are in boxes marked “In Michigan.”
Hurt and not sure where you stand? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.
What is a personal injury claim?
A personal injury claim asks the person or business that caused your injury, or their insurer, to pay for what it cost you. The law calls the wrong behind it a tort: an act or failure to act that harms someone and that courts treat as a civil wrong (Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, or LII).
A claim and a lawsuit aren’t the same thing:
- A claim usually starts with an insurance adjuster. If it settles, you’re paid in exchange for signing a release, which gives up your right to sue over the injury (LII).
- A lawsuit is filed in court, usually when a claim doesn’t settle or the deadline is near. If it doesn’t settle along the way, a judge or jury decides it (U.S. Courts).
An injury claim is a civil case meant to compensate you, separate from any criminal case over the same event (LII). It can succeed without a criminal conviction, because you only have to show your version is more likely true than not, a lower bar than proof beyond a reasonable doubt (U.S. Courts; LII).
Do you have a case?
Injury claims rest on one of three grounds: negligence, an intentional wrong or strict liability (LII). Whichever fits, you also need time left before the deadline and someone who can pay.
Negligence: someone wasn’t careful enough
Negligence, the most common basis for an injury claim, means failing to use the care a reasonable person would have used in the same situation (LII). A driver who runs a red light may have been negligent, and so may a doctor who misses what a careful doctor would have caught: medical malpractice is a negligence claim against a health care provider (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, or BJS).
To win, you generally have to prove four things (LII counts causation as two parts):
- Duty. The other side had to use reasonable care toward you, as a business does for its customers or a doctor for a patient (LII).
- Breach. They fell short of that care.
- Causation. Their failure caused your injury. See how causation is proved in injury cases.
- Damages. You were actually harmed. A near miss with no injury isn’t a claim.
Intentional wrongs: someone meant to act
Some injuries are caused on purpose. Battery, for example, is harmful or offensive physical contact with another person, done intentionally and without consent. The person must have meant to make the contact, or known it was substantially certain to happen, but didn’t have to mean to hurt you (LII). In Garratt v. Dailey, a five-year-old boy who pulled a chair away as a woman was sitting down was held liable for battery because he knew she would try to sit where it had been, even though he didn’t mean to harm her (Washington Supreme Court, 1955 and 1956). Assault and false imprisonment are other intentional wrongs (LII). For lawsuits over sexual abuse, see sexual abuse claims.
Insurance may not cover harm caused on purpose: most auto policies don’t cover damages the policyholder caused intentionally (Texas Department of Insurance, or TDI). The deadline to sue can differ, too.
Strict liability: responsible even without carelessness
For a few kinds of harm, the law can hold someone responsible whether or not they were careful or meant any harm (LII):
- Defective products. A product can be defective in its design, in how it was made, or in its instructions and warnings. Depending on the state, a claim can be based on strict liability, negligence or a breach of warranty (LII). See how product liability claims work.
- Certain animals. Keeping certain animals can bring strict liability (LII), and some dog-bite laws make the owner responsible for a bite without proof of carelessness. See dog and animal bite claims.
- Abnormally dangerous activities (LII).
Workers’ compensation and no-fault car insurance, used in 12 states (Triple-I, an insurance industry research group), work differently again, and both limit your right to sue. Both are covered below.
What kind of injury claim do you have?
Each kind of case has its own rules. Find yours, then start with its guide.
| What happened | What the claim usually turns on | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Car, truck or motorcycle crash | Who caused the crash and, in no-fault states, whether the injury is serious enough to sue (Triple-I) | Car accident claims |
| Slip, trip or fall | Whether the owner knew or should have known about the hazard and didn’t fix it or warn you | Slip-and-fall claims |
| Other unsafe property, such as broken stairs, a pool or poor security | What the owner owed you, which can depend on why you were there | Premises liability claims |
| Dog bite | Your state’s dog-bite law | Dog and animal bite claims |
| Medical mistake | Whether care fell below the accepted standard, usually shown through a medical expert | Medical malpractice claims |
| Defective product | A defect in the design, the manufacturing or the warnings (LII) | Product liability claims |
| Injury at work | Workers’ compensation, plus any claim against someone other than your employer | How workers’ compensation works |
| A family member’s death | Your state’s wrongful death law, which sets who shares in the money (LII) | Wrongful death claims |
Or browse by topic: car, truck and motorcycle accidents, slip, fall and unsafe property, medical malpractice, defective products and toxic exposure and workplace injuries and workers’ comp.
How does an injury claim work, from the first days to a settlement?
The claims process is familiar ground for the insurers that handle claims every day, and new ground for most people who get hurt. Knowing the usual steps helps you avoid mistakes that shrink claims.
The first days
- Get medical care, and describe every symptom. Your records are the main proof of your injury, and a gap in treatment lets the other side argue you weren’t badly hurt.
- Report it to the police after a crash, to the store or landlord, or in writing to your employer.
- Save the evidence: photos of the scene, the hazard and your injuries, witnesses’ contact details, and things like a defective product. Video can be recorded over, so ask the business in writing to keep it.
- Tell your own insurer, but be careful with the other side’s. Notify your own insurer right away and cooperate as your policy requires (Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, or DIFS). You have no contract with the other side’s insurer (TDI), so you don’t have to give it a recorded statement; it’s safer not to before you’ve had advice.
- Don’t sign anything yet. Settling usually means signing a release, which says the amount offered is all you’ll ever receive from them (Utah Insurance Department; LII).
After a crash, use our car accident checklist, and see what to say to an insurance adjuster and mistakes to avoid when filing an injury claim.
The claim
Most claims go to the at-fault person’s liability insurer. The adjuster looks at who was at fault, how much insurance covers the claim and what your records show the injury cost you; see how insurance companies evaluate injury claims. An insurer usually won’t settle an injury claim until you’ve finished treatment (Utah Insurance Department). The claim is then often summed up in a written demand, the insurer makes an offer, and the two sides negotiate. The decision to settle is yours: under the American Bar Association’s model ethics rules, a lawyer must follow the client’s decision on whether to settle (ABA Model Rule 1.2(a)).
The lawsuit, if the claim doesn’t settle
- Filing. You file a complaint with the court and serve a copy on the person or business you’re suing (U.S. Courts), before your deadline runs out.
- Discovery. Each side shares information, such as witnesses and documents, and witnesses can be questioned under oath in a deposition (U.S. Courts).
- Settlement efforts. Judges encourage the two sides to agree, and courts use mediation and similar processes (U.S. Courts).
- Trial. A judge or jury decides whether the defendant is responsible and what the losses are worth. You must show your case is more likely true than not, called a “preponderance of the evidence” (U.S. Courts).
Few cases get that far. In a BJS study of state courts in 2005, about 4% of tort cases were resolved by a trial, and plaintiffs won about half of those trials. Trials take time, too: half of the tort cases decided by juries took about 23 months or less from filing to verdict (BJS). For more on each step, see how suing someone works, how long an injury case takes and whether a lawsuit is worth filing.
What can you recover?
The money a court awards for an injury is called damages, and most of it falls into two groups (LII):
- Economic damages: losses you can add up, now and in the future, such as medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity and damaged property. For a life-changing injury, see catastrophic injury claims.
- Noneconomic damages: harm without a receipt, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress and inconvenience.
Punitive damages punish especially bad conduct instead of repaying a loss, and courts typically award them only for intentional wrongs or willful and wanton misconduct (LII). They’re rare: in the 2005 BJS study, they were awarded in about 3% of the tort trials that plaintiffs won.
For what drives the value of a claim, and why an online calculator can’t price yours, see what a personal injury case is worth.
What can reduce what you take home?
Several things can shrink what you receive, besides the lawyer’s fee and case costs covered below.
Your share of the fault
In most states, being partly at fault reduces what you recover instead of ending your claim: at 20% fault, you receive 80% of your damages. Many states bar recovery once your share reaches 50% or 51%, and a few, Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C., can bar it for even slight fault (LII). See how fault is decided in injury cases.
Damage caps
Some states cap certain kinds of damages, and the caps differ from state to state.
How much insurance there is
A claim is only worth what can be collected, usually from insurance. A liability policy pays only up to its limits; beyond them, the person at fault may owe the rest personally (TDI), which can be hard to collect. After a crash, your own underinsured motorist coverage may fill that gap (TDI).
Liens: repaying whoever paid your bills
If Medicare, Medicaid or a workers’ comp insurer paid for your injury care, it may have a right to be repaid from your settlement (42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(25); in Michigan, MCL 418.827(5)), and a health plan may too, depending on its terms. Medicare must be repaid within 60 days after you receive a settlement (42 CFR 411.24(h)). See medical liens and who gets paid from your settlement.
How long do you have to file an injury claim?
Every state sets a deadline to file an injury lawsuit, called a statute of limitations, and it depends on the state and the type of claim (LII). Deadlines change, too: 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.). See every state’s deadline.
The clock may start on the day you’re hurt or, for some claims, when the injury was discovered or should have been (LII). Shorter notice deadlines can come first. Talking with an adjuster doesn’t stop the clock; filing a lawsuit that’s then served on time does (in Michigan, MCL 600.5856).
Not sure which deadline applies to you, or how close it is? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.
Who pays? How insurance works in an injury claim
Injury claims are usually paid by insurance, from two main sources:
- The at-fault person’s liability insurance. Auto liability coverage pays the other driver’s and passengers’ medical bills and some other expenses when the policyholder caused the crash. Homeowners liability coverage pays medical bills, lost wages and other costs of people the homeowner is legally responsible for injuring (TDI).
- Your own coverage, while the claim is pending. Health insurance, and an auto policy’s medical payments coverage or personal injury protection (PIP), can pay your medical bills now; PIP also pays things like lost wages. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage pays if the driver who hit you had no insurance or not enough, or drove off (TDI). Some of these may have to be repaid from a settlement; see who pays your medical bills while your claim is pending.
What changes in a no-fault state?
In the 12 no-fault states, your own policy pays benefits such as medical bills and lost wages, whoever caused the crash, and you can sue the other driver for pain and suffering only if your case meets a threshold. Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania let drivers choose to keep the full right to sue (Triple-I). See no-fault vs. at-fault states.
What if you were hurt at work?
Workers’ compensation laws, mostly set by the states, pay set benefits to workers hurt on the job, and they can limit what an injured worker can recover from the employer (LII). You may also have a claim against someone else who caused the injury. See how workers’ compensation works.
What is a negligence (tort) lawyer?
A negligence lawyer, or tort lawyer, is usually a personal injury lawyer: a lawyer who represents people hurt by someone else’s careless or wrongful conduct and asks for money to cover their losses. The names come from the law behind injury claims. A tort is an act or failure to act that harms someone and that courts treat as a civil wrong, and negligence, failing to use the care a reasonable person would have used, is the most common basis for an injury claim (LII).
Their cases are the kinds of claims in the table above: crashes, falls, dog bites, medical mistakes, defective products, work injuries caused by someone other than the employer, and deaths caused by someone else’s wrong.
Still, the label alone doesn’t tell you which side a lawyer takes. The people and businesses being sued have lawyers too, and when a driver is sued over a crash, most auto policies pay the driver’s legal fees (TDI). So ask whether a lawyer represents injured people, and how many cases like yours they’ve handled.
Lawyers for injured people often work on a contingency fee, a share of what’s recovered, explained below. For the math, see how personal injury lawyers get paid.
Do you need a lawyer, and how are injury lawyers paid?
Not always. If only your property 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 if you were seriously hurt, fault is disputed, several parties or a government agency are involved, an insurer is denying benefits, or someone died. See when you need a personal injury lawyer.
How are injury lawyers paid?
Injury lawyers often work on a contingency fee: a percentage of what’s recovered, and no fee if nothing is. Under the American Bar Association’s model rule, the agreement must be in writing and signed by you, and it must say how the fee is figured, which expenses come out of the recovery, and whether they come off before or after the fee (ABA Model Rule 1.5(c)). Case costs, such as filing fees and expert witnesses, are separate. Depending on your agreement and your state’s rules, you may owe them even if you lose. See how personal injury lawyers get paid.
How do you choose a lawyer?
Check the license and discipline record with the lawyer-licensing agency in the state where your case would be filed. Ask about experience with cases like yours and who will handle yours day to day, compare fee agreements by the dollars you’d keep, and read reported results with care: see what a lawyer’s verdicts and settlements tell you, and what they don’t. For a step-by-step plan, see how to find the right lawyer for your case.
What to do next
- Get medical care, and keep every record: bills, visit notes, pay stubs, photos and a short log of what you can’t do.
- Find your deadlines, and meet the shortest one first, in writing, with proof of delivery. In Michigan, see every injury deadline in one place.
- Be careful what you say and sign. Give the other side’s insurer no recorded statement, and sign no release, before you know how badly you’re hurt.
- 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.
- Get the fee agreement in writing before you hire anyone, and keep your copy.
What waiting can cost
- Your right to sue. A lawsuit filed after the deadline can be thrown out, however strong the case (in Michigan, MCL 600.5805(1)).
- Short notice deadlines. A claim against a government agency can need written notice within months; in Michigan, 120 days for a defective road or public building (MCL 691.1404, 691.1406).
- Evidence. Video gets recorded over, hazards get repaired and witnesses become harder to find.
- Your bargaining position. A release signed too early ends the claim before you know what it’s worth.
What a good outcome looks like
Your medical bills go to whoever is responsible for paying them, and every notice goes out on time. If someone else caused your injury, their insurance pays for your losses, including the ones still ahead, reduced only by any share of the fault the evidence supports. You know the fee before you sign, and what you’ll take home before you accept an offer. From wondering whether you even have a case to knowing what you have to prove, when your deadline is and who should pay.
For injuries in Michigan, start with Michigan personal injury law in plain English. To browse every guide, see the law guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is a personal injury claim?
A claim for money against the person or business whose wrongful conduct caused your injury, usually paid by their insurance. Most are based on negligence: someone failed to use the care a reasonable person would have used. Others are based on an intentional act, such as a battery, or on strict liability, which doesn't require proof of carelessness, as with some defective products (Cornell LII).
How do I know if I have a personal injury case?
For a negligence claim, you generally must prove that the other side owed you a duty of reasonable care, breached it and caused your injury, and that you were actually harmed (Cornell LII). The Michigan Supreme Court calls these 'four essential elements: duty, breach, causation, and harm' (Kandil-Elsayed v F & E Oil, 2023). You also have to act before your deadline.
How long do I have to file a personal injury claim?
It depends on the state and the type of claim. In Michigan, most injury lawsuits must be filed within three years of the injury, and medical malpractice generally within two (MCL 600.5805(2), (8)). Some claims need written notice sooner, such as one year for no-fault benefits and 120 days for a defective government road or sidewalk (MCL 500.3145(1), 691.1404). Florida allows two years for negligence claims that arose after March 24, 2023 (Fla. Stat. 95.11(5)(a)).
Do most personal injury cases go to trial?
No. In a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics study of state courts in 2005, about 4% of tort cases were resolved by a trial. The rest ended some other way, such as a settlement or a dismissal. Plaintiffs won about half of the tort trials.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault?
In most states, yes: your recovery is reduced by your share of the fault. Many states bar recovery once your share reaches 50% or 51%, and Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C. can bar it for even slight fault (Cornell LII). In Michigan, damages are reduced by your share, and if your fault is greater than everyone else's combined, you recover reduced economic damages but no noneconomic damages (MCL 600.2959).
What is a tort lawyer?
Usually a personal injury lawyer, sometimes called a negligence lawyer: a lawyer who represents people hurt by someone else's careless or wrongful conduct. The label alone doesn't tell you which side a lawyer takes, since the people and businesses being sued have lawyers too. A tort is an act or failure to act that harms someone and that courts treat as a civil wrong, and negligence, failing to use the care a reasonable person would have used, is the most common basis for an injury claim (Cornell LII). Lawyers for injured people often work on a contingency fee, and in Michigan that fee can't be more than one-third of the recovery after case costs (MCR 8.121).
How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?
Injury lawyers often work on a contingency fee: a percentage of what's recovered, and no fee if nothing is. Under the American Bar Association's model rule, the agreement must be in writing and say how the fee is figured and how case costs are handled (ABA Model Rule 1.5(c)). In Michigan injury cases, the fee can't be more than one-third of the recovery after case costs, and you must get a copy of the agreement (MCR 8.121).
Sources
- Tort (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Personal injury (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Negligence (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Intentional tort (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Battery (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Strict liability (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Products liability (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Comparative negligence (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Damages (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Punitive damages (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Statute of limitations (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Release (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Beyond a reasonable doubt (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Wrongful death (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Workers' compensation (Wex legal dictionary) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Kandil-Elsayed v F & E Oil, Inc; Pinsky v Kroger Co of Mich (decided July 28, 2023) · Michigan Supreme Court
- Garratt v. Dailey, 46 Wn.2d 197 (1955) · Washington Supreme Court (Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School Library)
- Garratt v. Dailey, 49 Wn.2d 499 (1956) · Washington Supreme Court (Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School Library)
- Tort Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005 (NCJ 228129, November 2009) · Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice
- Civil Cases · Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
- Accident not your fault? Here's how to deal with the other driver's insurance · Texas Department of Insurance
- Automobile insurance guide · Texas Department of Insurance
- Homeowners insurance guide · Texas Department of Insurance
- Filing an auto claim with the other party's insurance company · Utah Insurance Department
- Insurance Policies and How to Claim What's Yours (FIS-PUB 0216A) · Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services
- Background on: No-fault auto insurance · Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I)
- 42 CFR 411.24, Recovery of conditional payments · Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- 42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(25), Medicaid recovery from liable third parties · Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
- ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.2, Scope of representation and allocation of authority · American Bar Association
- ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5, Fees · American Bar Association
- Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct: MRPC 1.8(e), Financial assistance to a client · Michigan Supreme Court
- Michigan Court Rules (updated July 31, 2026): MCR 2.403, 2.411 and 8.121 · Michigan Supreme Court
- Casey v Auto-Owners Ins Co, 273 Mich App 388 (2006), Docket No. 266576 · Michigan Court of Appeals
- Fla. Stat. 95.11, Limitations other than for the recovery of real property (2026) · Florida Legislature
- Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida (HB 837), sections 3 and 28 · Florida Department of State
- MCL 600.5805, Injuries to persons or property; period of limitations · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.5827, Accrual of claim · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.5856, Tolling of statute of limitations or repose · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.5838a, Medical malpractice; accrual, discovery and six-year limit · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.2912b, Notice of intent to file a medical malpractice claim · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.2959, Comparative fault; reduced damages · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 287.351, Person bitten by dog; liability of owner · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.1483, Medical malpractice; limitation on noneconomic damages · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.2946a, Product liability; limitation on noneconomic damages · Michigan Legislature
- Limitation on Noneconomic Damages and Product Liability Determination on Economic Damages (January 30, 2026) · Michigan Department of Treasury
- MCL 500.3105, PIP benefits payable without regard to fault · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3107, Allowable expenses, work loss and replacement services · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3107c, PIP medical coverage levels · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3114, Order of priority for PIP claims · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3135, Tort liability, serious impairment of body function and the mini-tort · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 500.3145, Limitations on actions for PIP benefits; notice of injury · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 691.1401, Definitions for the governmental tort liability act (highway includes sidewalks) · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 691.1404, Notice of injury and defect in a highway · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 691.1406, Public buildings; notice of injury · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 691.1411, Claims against government agencies; limitation of actions · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 600.6431, Court of Claims; notice of a claim against the state · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 418.131, Workers' compensation as the exclusive remedy · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 418.381, Workers' compensation notice and claim deadlines · Michigan Legislature
- MCL 418.827, Third-party liability · Michigan Legislature
- Summary of Your Rights and Responsibilities under Workers' Compensation (WC-PUB-001) · Michigan Workers' Disability Compensation Agency
- Member Directory · State Bar of Michigan
- Find by Name · Michigan Attorney Discipline Board
Updated September 29, 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.