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Limited property damage liability, known as the mini-tort exception allows for accident victims to recover up to $500 of their vehicle repair costs.

Under the no-fault laws, the State of Michigan has mandated coverage for personal injury protection, property protection such as road signs, fences and buildings, and residual liability coverage for cases where death or injury are involved. The state does not, however, require collision coverage. That is where the limited property damage liability or mini-tort provision comes into play.

There are varying degrees of collision insurance, but generally speaking it covers the cost of repairs to the driver's own vehicle. Repairs can get costly.

If you are without collision coverage on your car, or your coverage is limited, and you are less than 50 percent at fault for the accident, you can recoup some of your out-of-pocket costs to fix your car via the mini-tort.

How much you can recover depends on how much fault you bear. For example, let's say the damage to your car amounts to $100 and the other driver is deemed 75 percent at fault for the accident. Then he or she would pay $75.

These cases are normally handled in a small claims court, but either party may ask to have the case moved up to a higher jurisdiction.

At present, the mini-tort is capped at $500. However, a bill to increase the allowable damages to $1,000 was introduced in the Michigan House last summer and has been subsequently referred to the committee on insurance.

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