The Michigan mini-tort law is strange and frustrating. As explained in a previous blog, under the law the most you can receive from the at-fault driver’s insurance company for the vehicle damage he caused to your vehicle is $1,000. This is called mini-tort.
Instead, it is up to you to purchase collision coverage through your own car insurance to pay for repairs to your car when it is damaged in a crash. If you do not have collision coverage, you are stuck with just the $1,000 mini-tort settlement amount, even if the at-fault driver totaled your vehicle.
However, there is an exception to this rule. If your car is properly parked and it is hit by another vehicle, the other driver’s insurance company will pay for the damage to your vehicle. You are not bound by the $1,000 mini-tort limit. This is called the parked vehicle exception to the mini-tort law. Except for this one situation, the only types of car insurance that will pay for repairs to your vehicle are collision and comprehensive insurance.
