Illinois takes auto insurance seriously. By law, Illinois residents must have auto insurance in mandatory minimum amounts. The penalties for failure to have auto insurance are severe, so one must comply with the state requirements.
To be in compliance with the Illinois law, you must be carry the following minimum amounts of vehicle liability insurance.
- For the injury or death of one person in a collision, the minimum coverage is $20,000
- For the injury or death of more than one person in a collision, the minimum coverage is $40,000
- For damage to the property of another person, you must have a minimum of $15,000 coverage
Remember that these figures are the state minimum. In the event of an accident, the medical bills could far exceed the minimum amounts. To protect yourself from a financially crippling lawsuit or crushing debt, you should carry as much liability insurance as you can comfortably afford. Personal umbrella insurance policies that apply to all your assets are usually $400 – 500 per year and will provide extra insurance of at least one million dollars. Umbrellas above a million are also available.
We also strongly suggest that you carry uninsured/underinsured coverage for the highest available limits. This will protect you and your family in case a driver with no or low insurance injures you or a passenger in your vehicle.
What else you need to know
It’s important to keep your insurance current. The state conducts random surveys to catch violators of the law. The police also ask anybody stopped for a moving violation to produce evidence that they are insured. If your insurance has lapsed, your driver’s license will be suspended, and you will receive a $500 mandatory fine. If you get caught driving on a suspended license, you face a mandatory four-month license suspension and a fine of $1,000. To further complicate matters, some insurance companies will not insure drivers who have been operating their vehicle while uninsured.
Keeping your insurance at or above state minimum will save you money in fines and legal liability. Always be sure you have at least the Illinois state minimum coverage.
