DETROIT (WJBK) - The Mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, has filed a lawsuit against the State of Michigan in efforts to change our no-fault insurance law.
The lawsuit argues the mandatory no-fault auto insurance system violates the constitutional rights of Michiganders because the insurance costs are so high. According to the suit, our annual auto insurance premium of $3,059 is double the national average cost: $1,512.
More so, the lawsuit argues that the extremely high cost significantly affects the Detroit population, where those drivers pay an average of $6,197 a year for coverage.
The mayor has long been a proponent of insurance reform in Detroit, where many go uninsured, and even announced his own proposal last year to combat the high insurance rates. The proposal was defeated.
"The No-Fault Act has failed Michigan residents at every turn. This lawsuit seeks a declaration that the law is unconstitutional," the suit states. Duggan is asking the State be given six months to reform the No-Fault insurance, or else have the No-Fault Act be deemed null and void and the tort system be reinstated.
Right now, there two types of insurance: the pure tort system and the no-fault insurance.
Proponents of the no-fault system point to the benefits, which include: All medical care for a lifetime; wage loss up to three years; replacement services; at-home care; and medical mileage. But all that, of course, comes with a price.
"With a pure tort state, people's auto insurance rates drops by more than half, overnight. No-fault is great, but, it's expensive and people don't really understand the benefit that it offers until normally it's too late and they've been injured in a car accident," Steve Gursten with Michigan Auto Law told FOX 2 earlier this year, when lawmakers also discussed reforming the system.