Illinois Auto Insurance: The Minimum Is 25/50/20
James Brazil lives in Mérida, Mexico. He founded Swift Agent Sites and studied Classics at the University of Mississippi.
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Illinois law requires liability insurance of at least $25,000 for injury or death of one person in a crash, $50,000 for injury or death of more than one person, and $20,000 for damage to another person's property. The Secretary of State cites those figures as the way a driver complies with the mandatory insurance law.
The Department of Insurance ties the bodily-injury and property-damage floors to 625 ILCS 5/7-203, and the duty to carry insurance to 625 ILCS 5/7-601. Keep the insurance card in the vehicle and show it when an officer asks. The card usually arrives when the policy is issued or renewed.
What do the three numbers pay?
Bodily-injury liability pays for injury or death of a pedestrian or a person in another car. The Department of Insurance says it may also cover your passengers when they are not members of your household. It may pay for a lawyer if you are sued because of the crash. The $25,000 figure is per person. The $50,000 figure is the total for the crash when more than one person is hurt.
Property-damage liability pays for another person's car or property, including a fence, a building, a utility pole, a sign, or a tree. The floor is $20,000 per crash. Trailers are not required to carry liability insurance. The vehicle that tows one still needs its own policy if it is registered and operated in Illinois.
What does the state not require you to buy?
The Secretary of State's mandatory-insurance pamphlet says state law does not require collision, comprehensive, medical-payments, or uninsured property-damage coverage. A lender can still require physical damage coverage on a financed vehicle. That requirement is the loan, not 625 ILCS 5/7-203.
Liability policies automatically include uninsured-motorist coverage at the legal minimum for bodily injury or death. That coverage is there if the other driver has no insurance. It is not a substitute for collision coverage on your own car. Read the declarations page so you know whether you bought anything above the floor. See how uninsured-motorist coverage sits on an Illinois policy.
What happens after a crash?
If no officer is at the scene, 625 ILCS 5/11-407 requires the driver to give notice by the fastest means available. Inside a municipality, call the local police department. Outside one, call the nearest county sheriff or the nearest Illinois State Police headquarters. Notice is required when anyone is injured or killed, or when property damage to any person, including the driver, is more than $1,500. That property-damage amount is $500 only if a vehicle that must carry liability insurance under section 7-601 has no liability policy. Section 7-203 sets the 25/50/20 floor. It does not set this notice rule. Section 11-406, the old duty to file a written crash report, was repealed. The driver does not mail a report to the Department of Transportation.
An at-fault driver who is uninsured must pay the damages or face suspension of the license plates and the driver's license. Minimum limits are the floor. A serious crash can cost more than $25,000 for one person. The pamphlet says the minimum is only the foundation of a policy.
What if a company will not sell you a policy?
Some companies will not insure a driver who has been uninsured. The Secretary of State says to ask an agent about the Illinois Automobile Insurance Plan, a state-monitored program for drivers who have trouble buying coverage. The plan does not erase the 25/50/20 floor. See what to ask after a decline.
Questions about a claim, a cancellation, or a bill go to the Department of Insurance after you have written the company. Consumer Assistance is (866) 445-5364. A complaint itself has to be in writing. See how to file that complaint.
What should I keep with the card?
The pamphlet's enforcement note is the electronic check the state runs against the policy, not a file you can call up at the Secretary of State for every plate. If an officer asks, the card in the vehicle is the proof the pamphlet tells you to show. Put the company name, the policy number, and the dates on the card next to a photo of the declarations page on your phone. If the card is expired because a renewal is in the mail, ask the company for a current card before you rely on the old one. A financed car can have a second requirement, physical damage, that will not appear on a liability-only card. Ask the lender what the loan calls for and match it to the declarations page the same day.
If you are also buying a house, the auto policy does not pay mine subsidence and it does not set the property tax. Those are separate contracts and a separate bill. The insurance complaint path is the same department if a company mishandles the auto claim.
FAQ
Is 25/50/20 the whole policy? It is the liability floor in 625 ILCS 5/7-203. Collision and comprehensive are separate. A lender may require them even though the state does not.
Do I have to carry the card? Yes. The Secretary of State says you must carry the insurance card in the vehicle and show it to a law enforcement officer on request.
Does the policy include uninsured-motorist coverage? Liability policies automatically include uninsured-motorist coverage at the legal minimum for bodily injury or death. Uninsured property damage is not required.
When do I have to notify the police? If no officer is present, 625 ILCS 5/11-407 requires notice for an injury or a death, or for property damage over $1,500. The amount is $500 only when a vehicle required to have liability insurance under 7-601 has none. Call local police inside a municipality. Otherwise call the nearest sheriff or Illinois State Police office. You do not file a written report with the Department of Transportation.
Are trailers included? The pamphlet says trailers are not required to have liability insurance. The motor vehicle that is registered and driven in Illinois still is.
Next step
Read the declarations page against 25/50/20 and against whatever the lender wrote into the loan. Put the current card in the vehicle. If a company has declined you, ask the agent about the Illinois Automobile Insurance Plan before you drive uninsured.
Sources: Illinois Secretary of State: Mandatory Vehicle Insurance (VSD 361), Illinois Department of Insurance: auto insurance shopping guide, 625 ILCS 5/11-407 (P.A. 103-1047, eff. Jan. 1, 2025). Section 11-406 was repealed by P.A. 102-560.
This is general information for Illinois. It is not a recommendation to buy, drop, or switch a specific policy. Confirm current details with the insurer or a licensed agent who knows your situation.
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