A real, important carve-out most 51%-bar states don't have
Under MCL 600.2959, Michigan bars recovery once a claimant's fault reaches 51% or more — but this bar is written to apply specifically to non-economic damages, like pain and suffering and emotional distress. It is not a blanket bar on the entire claim the way the 51% rule works in many other states. Economic damages, such as medical bills and lost wages, can potentially still be recovered, reduced proportionally by the claimant's fault, even when that fault crosses the 51% line.
The practical breakdown, worked through
Consider someone with $40,000 in medical bills and lost wages (economic damages) and $40,000 in pain and suffering (non-economic damages), found 51% at fault. The economic damages are generally reduced proportionally — recovering roughly $19,600 of the $40,000. The non-economic damages, however, are completely barred at 51% fault, leaving nothing from that category. The combined result is a partial recovery, not a total wipeout, which can come as a genuine surprise to anyone assuming Michigan's rule works like the simpler 51% bar used elsewhere.
Below 51%, both categories are simply reduced
Below the 51% threshold, both economic and non-economic damages are reduced in proportion to the claimant's own fault — a claimant at 20% fault recovers 80% of both categories. The distinctive split only becomes relevant once fault actually crosses the 51% line.
Several liability, not joint and several
Michigan has also largely eliminated joint and several liability among multiple defendants. Each defendant is generally responsible only for their own allocated percentage of fault, rather than potentially being on the hook for the full judgment regardless of their individual share.
No-fault PIP operates separately
Comparative negligence does not affect a claimant's right to receive first-party no-fault Personal Injury Protection benefits, which cover medical bills and lost wages through a completely separate system, independent of any fault analysis in a third-party tort claim.