Michigan lawmakers have introduced Senate Bill 782, a proposal to revise auto insurance application rules and clarify how personal protection insurance pays out in motorcycle crashes.
The measure would bar insurers from requiring applicants to name every household resident on an auto policy application.
Under the bill, carriers could not deny a claim solely because a household member was not listed on the application. The text also confirms personal protection insurance applies to the named insured, their spouse, and relatives domiciled in the same household.
The legislation sets a defined order of priority when a motorcycle rider or passenger suffers injury in a crash.
Personal protection benefits would first come from the insurer of the owner or registrant of the vehicle involved in the accident.
Payment responsibility would then shift to the insurer of the vehicle’s operator, followed by the insurer of the motorcycle operator, and finally to the carrier covering the owner or registrant of the motorcycle.
Benefits in these cases would be capped at the highest single coverage limit available under any one applicable policy. The bill also addresses contribution among insurers.
When multiple carriers share the same order of priority and one pays benefits, that insurer would gain the right to partial reimbursement from others in the same tier, along with a reasonable allocation for claims-handling expenses.
Separately, Michigan legislators are reviewing changes to the state’s framework governing captive insurers, including formation requirements, rules for special purpose captives, and provisions tied to sponsored captive structures.
