Answers · Michigan crash law
My Insurance Company Rescinded My Policy After the Crash. Can I Still Sue the Driver Who Hit Me?
Yes. Under a 2023 Michigan Supreme Court decision, your own insurer voiding your policy after the collision does not make you an uninsured driver on the day it happened, and it does not take away your claim against the at-fault driver.
This situation is more common than people realize. You are injured in a collision someone else caused. You file a claim with your own insurance company for medical benefits and lost wages. Instead of paying, the company investigates the application you filled out months or years earlier, decides something on it was wrong, and rescinds the policy, treating it as though it never existed.
Then the at-fault driver’s insurance company sends its own letter. Their position: because your policy was rescinded, you were an uninsured driver at the time of the collision, so Michigan law bars your claim against their insured.
That argument fails. The Michigan Supreme Court rejected it.
Is rescission the same as cancelling a policy?
Cancellation ends a policy going forward, from a date stated in a proper notice. Rescission erases it from the beginning, as though it had never existed. Insurers reach for rescission when they decide an application contained a misrepresentation. The two get confused constantly. The difference decides which rules apply to your claim.
Cancellation ends a policy going forward. Michigan requires the insurer to mail at least 10 days’ written notice under MCL 500.3020(1)(b), and coverage ends on the date stated in a proper notice.
Rescission is a court-ordered remedy that treats the policy as void from the beginning, usually because the insurer claims the application contained a material misrepresentation: an undisclosed household driver, an address the vehicle was not actually garaged at, an unlisted claim history.
Rescission is the more aggressive move, and it is the one insurers use when they want to erase coverage retroactively after a claim comes in.
What did the Michigan Supreme Court decide in Wilmore-Moody v Zakir?
That rescinding your policy after the collision does not hand the at-fault driver a defense. The Court held a post-collision rescission does not make you a person who was uninsured “at the time the injury occurred” under MCL 500.3135(2)(c). The bar on noneconomic damages does not reach you.
In Wilmore-Moody v Zakir, 511 Mich 76 (2023), the plaintiff was injured in a collision. Her own insurer rescinded her policy after the accident based on misrepresentations in her application. The at-fault driver then argued that the rescission meant she had no insurance “at the time the injury occurred” under MCL 500.3135(2)(c), and that her claim against him was therefore barred.
The Michigan Supreme Court disagreed.
The Court held that the plaintiff did have the required insurance at the time the injury occurred, even though the policy was rescinded afterward. The Court reasoned that the at-fault driver was not a party to the insurance contract between the plaintiff and her insurer, and could not claim the benefit of contractual defenses belonging to someone else.
The Court’s own description of rescission is the clearest statement of the principle: it is a legal fiction available as a contractual remedy, but it does not alter reality or work as a time machine. Rescission does not create an alternate version of events in which the at-fault driver never caused the collision.
As the decision frames it, the insurer that rescinds is the only party that benefits from that legal fiction. The negligent driver does not get to borrow it.
My insurer rescinded my policy after the crash. What happens now?
Your claim against the driver who hit you survives. The benefits your own carrier owed you become a separate fight, and losing it does not affect the claim against the driver. The rescission itself is also contestable. It is a remedy a court orders, not a decision an insurer announces.
If your own policy was rescinded after your collision:
Your third-party claim against the at-fault driver survives. You are not treated as an uninsured driver for purposes of the MCL 500.3135(2)(c) bar. You may pursue noneconomic damages (pain, suffering, loss of the life you had before) assuming you meet Michigan’s injury threshold, along with excess economic losses.
If a court ever does uphold a rescission and you are treated as uninsured for other purposes, there is a separate question about what an uninsured plaintiff may still recover in Michigan, and the answer is more than most people are told.
Your first-party benefits are a separate fight. A valid rescission can end your claim for no-fault medical and wage benefits from your own carrier. That is a different battle, and losing it does not affect your case against the driver who hit you. The two claims stand independently.
Rescission is not something an insurer simply announces. It is an equitable remedy ordered by a court, not a decision a company makes unilaterally. Where innocent parties are involved, courts must balance the equities before allowing it. An insurer’s letter declaring a policy rescinded is a position, not a ruling.
Whether the rescission was proper is itself contestable. Insurers do not always have the evidence to support the misrepresentation they allege. The claimed error is sometimes trivial, sometimes not actually false, and sometimes something the insurer knew about and accepted premiums on for years.
Does a rescission letter mean my case is over?
No. The at-fault driver still caused the collision. That driver still carries liability insurance. Under Wilmore-Moody, the rescission of your policy does not give that driver a defense. An insurer’s letter is a position, not a ruling.
The pattern worth recognizing: a rescission letter arrives, and the injured person concludes the case is over.
It is not. The at-fault driver still caused the collision. That driver still carries liability insurance. And under Wilmore-Moody, the rescission of your policy does not hand that driver a defense.
If an adjuster or a defense attorney has told you your claim is barred because your policy was rescinded, they are stating a position that Michigan’s highest court has already addressed. That does not mean every such case is easy. It means the conclusion should not be accepted at face value.
And if a rescission is upheld and no coverage remains anywhere on the other side, there are still several places compensation can come from.
Michigan also has firm filing deadlines, including a one-year notice period for no-fault benefits under MCL 500.3145 and a separate limitations period for the claim against the at-fault driver. Time spent assuming a case is gone is time that cannot be recovered.
Frequently asked questions
My insurer rescinded my policy after the crash. Can I still sue the driver who hit me?
Yes. In Wilmore-Moody v Zakir, 511 Mich 76 (2023), the Michigan Supreme Court held that a plaintiff whose policy was rescinded after the collision still had the required insurance at the time the injury occurred. Post-crash rescission does not make you an uninsured driver under MCL 500.3135(2)(c), and your claim against the at-fault driver survives.
What is the difference between rescission and cancellation of an auto policy?
Cancellation ends a policy going forward and requires at least 10 days’ proper written notice under MCL 500.3020(1)(b). Rescission is an equitable remedy that treats the policy as void from the beginning, usually based on an alleged material misrepresentation in the application, and it is the tool insurers reach for when they want to erase coverage retroactively after a claim comes in.
Does a rescission letter from my insurer end my case?
No. Rescission is a court-ordered remedy, not something an insurer simply announces; a letter declaring a policy rescinded is a position, not a ruling. Whether the rescission was proper is contestable, your third-party claim against the at-fault driver survives under Wilmore-Moody either way, and Michigan’s deadlines keep running while you assume the case is gone.
Talk to someone about your case
I am a trial attorney at Michigan Auto Law handling Michigan auto negligence and no-fault cases, including claims where an insurer has rescinded coverage. If your policy was rescinded after a collision and you have been told you no longer have a case, it costs nothing to have that reviewed.
This article discusses Michigan law as of July 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. Rescission cases turn on the specific facts of the insurance application and the record in each case, and outcomes vary. Results in past cases do not guarantee a particular outcome in any other case. Attorney advertising. Gary Safir is a trial lawyer at Michigan Auto Law.