Factors to Consider Before Settlement of a Serious Injury Car or Truck Accident Case in Michigan.
Aug. 19, 2026
It is rarely a simple decision to settle a serious injury accident. Gerald R. Stahl is an experienced personal injury attorney who has represented victims of auto and semi-truck accidents in Western Michigan for over forty years. The consequences of these accidents are devastating to the victims and their families. Thus, the settlement amount for pain and suffering can have a bearing on the injured party’s quality of life in the future.
THIS ARTICLE WILL DISCUSS SOME OF THE COMMON ISSUES CONFRONTING THE INJURED VICTIM WHEN DECIDING TO SETTLE A CAR OR TRUCK ACCIDENT PAIN AND SUFFERING CLAIM UNDER MICHIGAN NO FAULT.
Liability in a Car or Semi-Truck accident:
The driver that caused the accident must be at least 50% responsible for triggering liability for the claim. In other words, the injured victim is a passenger or an operator of a vehicle that was in an accident caused by a negligent driver. Negligence or recklessness must be established by the facts of the accident. Generally, this requires statements from witnesses, review of the accident scene, and the police report. In other words, the accident was caused by some other driver’s violation of the rules of the road. Insurance companies will fully investigate accidents before they decide to consider payment for a bodily injury claim.
Insurance companies will often question the liability issue with little or no evidence of wrongdoing to evade the real issues of the amount of damage caused to the victim. An experienced car accident lawyer will handle the insurance company's frivolous defenses with facts.
Serious Injuries
If liability is established, the injured victim must prove to the insurance company that the
injuries that meet the Michigan No-Fault threshold.
Michigan No-Fault law states that to recover damages, the claimant must establish that they sustained a serious impairment of an important body function. A serious impairment of an important bodily function is defined as “an objectively manifested impairment of an important bodily function that affects the claimant’s general ability to live his or her normal life. “
Examples of Potential Serious Injuries for a No-Fault claim in Michigan:
Brain Injuries:
Fractures requiring surgery and internal fixations:
Paralysis:
Permanent scarring:
PTSD:
Chronic pain syndrome:
Spinal Injuries:
Internal Injuries:
Other Fractures:
For instance, a claimant may have suffered multiple fractures of the right leg in the accident. These fractures require surgery with the placement of permanent rods and screws to stabilize the fractures. This causes him to be off work for several months. He also required therapy and now walks with a slight limp. The doctor advises that he will have future arthritis. These are serious and permanent injuries, and the claimant is entitled to past, present, and future pain and suffering under Michigan No Fault.
In the above example, the claimant establishes his injuries with emergency records, surgery reports, and his treating doctor’s office notes. The treating doctor in most cases will write the claimant’s attorney a report outlining his current diagnosis and prognosis for recovery. This is referred to as a narrative doctor’s report. A good narrative report from a treating doctor is an excellent piece of evidence to present to an insurance adjuster in a car crash case.
The injuries affect that person’s general ability to lead his or her normal life:
The other requirement to recover pain and suffering under Michigan No Fault is that the injury affects the victim’s ability to lead his or her normal life. It means to have “an influence on some of the person’s capacity to live, or pass life, in his or her normal manner of living.”
For instance, an injury causes a homeowner to work in his yard, maintaining his property, or perform repairs. An accident victim may lose their ability to play sports, to run marathons or engage in some other activity they enjoyed before the accident. This will normally be established by changes in lifestyle and general physical capabilities. Insurance companies may claim a client’s injuries have not materially altered their pre-injury habits. In some cases, Insurance companies hire private detectives to follow the victim and document activities.
Attorney Fees-Paid only after recovery in all cases
The fact is all Personal Injury Attorneys in Michigan get paid on a contingency fee basis of usually 1/3 of the settlement. Thus, attorneys that advertise no payment unless recovery is made is nothing more than what every other injury attorney charges. So, there is no fee advantage in hiring one firm versus another. There may be an advantage to one firm’s experience over another firm. However, if an attorney achieves the maximum recovery available under the defendant’s liability policy, a claim of an advantage is illusory. Gerald R. Stahl, like other personal injury lawyers, offers free consultation.
Most people could not afford to pay a lawyer by the hour if they had no idea how much their case is worth. Furthermore, many people are seriously injured and are financially unable to pay because of their injuries. The Michigan Supreme Court rule allows attorneys to work on a 1/3 contingency fee for the above reasons. The attorney and the client form a team with the goal of full compensation for the victim. Law firms will spend hundreds of hours on personal injury cases with no fee until recovery. Thus, the injured victim is not burdened with a continual hourly fee that they could not afford.
Negotiating with Bodily Injury Policy limits
The first question an attorney wants to answer after accepting a case is what the policy limits for bodily injury on the policy of are the at fault driver. This is one of the most important questions because that bodily injury limit is all the money the insurance must pay regardless of the extent or seriousness of the injury to your client. In other words, it is the maximum extent of the Insurance company’s exposure for the claim. The insurance company starts on the premise that they want to pay as little as possible. And they will use every trick in their bag to pay as little as possible.
Now comes perhaps the most challenging part of the process, negotiating with the insurance company. The insurance company starts on the premise that they want to pay as little as possible. And they will use every trick in their bag to pay as little as possible. Advertisements claiming recovery of millions for clients normally include high insurance coverage. This would normally be a common carrier or commercial vehicle. For instance, Gerald R. Stahl settled a case regarding a serious injury caused by a semi-tractor-trailer accident in Holland, Michigan, where the semi-truck had 21 million dollars of coverage. The semi had a series of policies that were stacked on top of each other as umbrella policies. In any case, the client had a serious brain injury, and we were able to achieve a settlement of more than a million dollars.
Injuries after a serious car accident often will be lifelong:
The client also may have injuries that will be treated for the rest of their life. However, the client wants compensation now for that expected future pain and suffering. Furthermore, the calculation could be that the policy limits are never going to adequately cover the expected amount of pain and suffering. The only alternative would be to try and get a judgment personally against the negligent driver. In other words, go to trial. That driver would have to be collectable with a high net worth. Most defendants in this situation are not collectible. If that was the case, they probably would have had a better policy in the first place. The bottom line is that the insurance company will only pay the amount up to the policy limits of their contract.
Victims of auto accidents need an experienced personal injury lawyer to represent them in a Michigan No Fault Bodily Injury Claim.
Auto and semi-truck accidents can result in devastating injuries. These accidents often involve various complicated issues of liability and medical damage. Attorney Gerald R. Stahl is an experienced personal injury and accident attorney. He has been helping victims of trucking accidents recover money for pain and suffering in West Michigan and other States for over 40 years. If you are injured in an auto accident or semi-tractor accident, you need an attorney who has investigated, settled, and tried accident cases. Gerald R Stahl will fight to achieve the best results in your case. The client should always consider their future after suffering a serious injury that was not their fault.
The client often asks his personal injury lawyer, “How much is my case worth”?
An experienced personal injury lawyer will normally give a broad range based on the facts known at the time the question is asked. Gerald R. Stahl is a personal injury lawyer with proven results. In negotiating a settlement in a car accident case, you must consider the pain and suffering that has already been endured by the plaintiff, both future pain and suffering and past pain and suffering. Each accident and client will be different. In some cases, the car accident will include a claim for wrongful death of a victim. This will result in family pain and suffering.
Personal injuries cannot be measured by any one standard of money value. There is no standard, for instance, by which the value of a brain injury can be computed. Nor is there a rule for determining the amount of money that will adequately compensate the injured party for the loss of a limb or impairment of physical abilities.
These negotiations are extremely complex, and you should always have an experienced attorney when negotiating with an insurance company. It takes years of experience and training to negotiate a serious injury case with significant injuries and policy limits. It can be beneficial to hire the best personal injury attorney in your location. Gerald R. Stahl has represented several victims of accidents in Ottawa, Kent, Allegan, and all surrounding Western Michigan Counties and other States for over the last 40 years. Gerald R. Stahl is a personal injury and car accident lawyer located in Holland, Michigan.
It is for all these reasons that injured victims need to hire an experienced personal injury firm. Call Gerald R. Stahl for any further questions. This Blog is intended to discuss the issues related to No Fault Insurance claims and is not intended to give or be construed as legal advice.
Gerald R. Stahl
Attorney at Law
217 East 24th Street, Suite 102
Holland, MI 49423
616-456-7372