Illinois Automobile Insurance Essentials

View PDF | Print View
by: joshuapaulmyers
Total views: 17
Word Count: 457
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 Time: 4:45 AM
0 comments

If you own a motor vehicle in the state of Illinois, then you must have at least the minimum requirement of liability insurance. Additionally, physical damage insurance may be required by the owner's lending institution to protect the interests in vehicles that are financed.

The minimum bodily injury coverage in the State of Illinois is $20,000 per injured person in a single accident or $40,000 total for all injured persons in any single car accident.

In terms of property damage, you have to get at least $15,000 of coverage for a single accident, regardless of whose vehicle is damage.

A driver may also choose to add additional coverage such as Uninsured Motorist Coverage. Requirements of this type of insurance coverage must offer liability limits that are equal to the standard bodily injury coverage unless that figure is specifically rejected in writing by the insured. Uninsured Motorist coverage might not go below the amount of Bodily Injury Liability Coverage that the state of Illinois requires.

Bodily injury, which includes costs that stem from pedestrians or occupants in a secondary vehicle that were involved in the accident from injury or death, and property damage, which includes damage to another vehicle or property such as trees, fences and buildings are both covered by liability insurance. If someone else who has permission to use the vehicle causes damage or an accident, this damage can also be covered for this person. This type of insurance also provides for legal representation in many cases.

Minimum liability limits of 20/40/15 are required in the State of Illinois, which represents $20,000 for bodily injury coverage for individuals and $40,000 for bodily injury per single accident, which also covers lost wages and medical bills. In addition to that, you need to address at least $15,000 of coverage for property damage for each accident, which will allow repairs of a vehicle or personal property to be paid for.

PIP, also known as Personal Injury Protection is completely optional, but you do have to get Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage in this instance. With the UM coverage, you can address the expenses that are incurred by hit and run accidents in the event that the person at fault has no insurance. $20,000 a person and $40,000 an accident are the limits you have to meet. UIM coverage pays the difference between the liability limits of the at-fault driver that caused the accident and the policy holder's UIM limits if the UIM is lower than the policy limits. This additional coverage is only required if higher limits of UM coverage are purchased by the policy holder.

Comprehensive Coverage and Collision Coverage may also be required coverage as far as actual physical damage is concerned.

About the Author

Joshua P. Myers is a Premier Illinois Car Accident Lawyer. With offices in St. Louis, MO and Chicago, IL, his law firm represents injured car accident victims throughout all of Illinois. He has also authored a Free Illinois Car Accident Book. For more information, call his Personal Injury Law Firm, Schultz & Myers, at 888-9IL-LWYR (888-945-5997).