How this estimate is built
Your medical expenses and lost wages are your economic damages. We apply the multiplier method, the industry-standard approach, to estimate noneconomic damages — then apply Michigan's fault rule and whichever cap genuinely applies.
The 51% bar only touches pain and suffering
Under MCL 600.2959, a claimant found more than 50% at fault is barred from recovering noneconomic damages — pain, suffering, and similar harm — entirely. What makes Michigan genuinely distinctive is that economic damages are never barred this way: they're simply reduced by your fault percentage, whatever that percentage is, even at 90% fault. Most 51%-bar states block the whole claim at that threshold; Michigan only blocks half of it.
Car accidents: a threshold before pain and suffering is even on the table
Michigan's no-fault auto insurance system adds another layer specific to car accidents: under MCL 500.3135, you can only pursue a third-party claim for pain and suffering if you show death, permanent serious disfigurement, or a "serious impairment of body function" — an objectively manifested impairment affecting your general ability to lead your normal life. This threshold applies only to auto claims, not to slip-and-falls or other ordinary injuries.
Medical malpractice: a two-tier, inflation-adjusted cap
MCL 600.1483 caps noneconomic damages in a medical malpractice claim on two tiers, both adjusted every January by the Michigan Department of Treasury. For 2026, the standard cap is $596,400; a higher cap of $1,065,000 applies where a court determines a qualifying severe-injury exception is met. Economic damages remain fully uncapped, and the cap applies even to a wrongful death claim arising from malpractice.