Mandatory Motor Vehicle Insurance Every registered and plated motor vehicle titled in the State of Michigan and used on the public roadways is required to be insured with a no-fault policy. Each policy identifies its "named insured" and that person, and family members residing in the household, are entitled to benefits under the policy. Receipt of the benefits is activated by involvement in a motor vehicle accident, and who was at fault has no effect upon entitlement to no-fault benefits. The types of benefits payable are medical care expenses, costs of medications, reimbursement at a set per mile rate for travel to medical care facilities, including physician's offices, money to pay others who perform services ordinarily performed by the injured person for himself or herself or dependent children, and partial coverage for work or income loss. What should and was intended to be a simple benefit system has become a very complicated, tangled, and controversial form of insurance coverage. The situation is aggravated and worsened by the apparent preference of most motor vehicle insurers to attempt avoidance of the obligation to pay benefits owed to the injured or insured person. The creative ways devised by the insurance companies to sidestep their obligations is remarkable. You pay the premiums or risk the punishment of operating an uninsured vehicle but the insurance companies try to escape paying benefits with no risk of real sanctions.   Obtaining Your Benefits Every no-fault benefit claim is assigned by the insurance company to a claims representative. If you become a recipient of this type of insurance benefits, you will become very familiar with your claims representative. Occasionally, that person is pleasant, supportive, polite, and understanding of your needs. More often, the claims representative develops the image of a bully, a control freak, a dictator, and a know-it-all snot. The last thing a claims representative wants is for you to have an attorney advising you about your rights to no-fault benefits. That development means the imbalance in your relationship has been eliminated and your claim will have to be administered on a level playing field from that point forward. An attorney advising the injured person results in the claims representative losing absolute control. Knowledge is a powerful asset and the experienced attorney brings that feature to the discussions between the claims representative and the injured person seeking entitlement to no-fault benefits for medical treatment, income loss, and rehabilitative care.   Never assume that you understand entitlement to no-fault benefits if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident. Always seek a conference with an attorney who understands the no-fault insurance system. Then you can make an informed decision whether you are receiving the benefits owed to you by your insurance company or being wrongfully denied the opportunity for proper medical care and coverage for your income loss. It is important that you seek information from an attorney who has the experience to advise you correctly about no-fault insurance issues. Few attorneys have that background, but most know who does and they will refer you to those with the expertise needed to answer your questions and represent your interests. You paid the premiums. What could be wrong about finding out more about what is owed to you when you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident? Knowledge is a powerful tool for use in solving the insurance riddle.