Guide to Car Insurance in Illinois

Illinois requires the following liability limits and auto insurance coverages.

• Bodily injury liability per person: $25,000
• Bodily injury liability per accident: $50,000
• Property damage liability: $20,000
• Uninsured motorist coverage per person: $25,000
• Uninsured motorist coverage per accident: $50,000¹

The minimum car insurance coverage in Illinois is not enough, as it won’t cover your damages and injuries in accidents you caused. It also won’t protect you financially if your car is damaged from events other than collisions, like car theft or vandalism.

Car insurance in Illinois costs $915 a year on average, 13 percent less than the U.S. average. Liability coverage makes up the bulk of this amount at $501, followed by collision coverage at $348 and comprehensive coverage at $137.

Although these were the average rates in 2020, the last time the National Association of Insurance Commissioners published data, we’ve seen annual rates range from $277 for the cheapest car insurance all the way up to $5,327.09 for new drivers.

The cost of your car insurance depends on many factors, like if you had a speeding ticket within the past five years or are one of the many drivers with poor credit. Be sure to fully explore your car insurance rate and coverage options before insuring your car.

You have many companies to choose from when shopping for car insurance in Illinois:

• Allstate
• American Family
• Auto-Owners
• Country Financial
• Encompass
• Erie
• Farmers
• First Chicago
• GEICO
• Grange
• Hastings Mutual
• Mercury
• Pekin
• Progressive
• Rockford Mutual
• State Farm
• Travelers
• USAA

The best ways to save money on car insurance are to …

• Get discounts. Most providers offer auto insurance discounts, such as for taking a defensive driving course or signing up for an annual policy. Ask your agent how you can save today.
• Adjust your policy. You can lower your limits, get rid of coverages that the law doesn’t require, or raise your auto insurance deductible to lower your insurance premiums. But keep in mind that these actions may cost more in the long term if you have an accident.
• Keep a clean driving record. Drive carefully to avoid tarnishing what we assume is a perfect driving record. That includes avoiding distracted driving, like texting and driving.
  Switch companies. If all else fails, you may be able to save money by switching car insurance companies.

Driving in Illinois requires not only insurance but also proof of insurance. Otherwise, how will the police officer know you really have it?

People caught driving without insurance in Illinois could face fines and license suspensions.

You can show your proof in the form of a paper or electronic ID.

If you’ve purchased your auto insurance policy from an agent or broker, you’re ready to drive – but first make sure you’re compliant with the laws of the land in Illinois.

Is Illinois a No-Fault State?

Illinois is not a no-fault state; it’s an at-fault state.

Say someone hit your parked car and left the scene, a classic hit-and-run — but CCTV caught the culprit speeding off. That person would be responsible for your property damages and any injuries your passengers incurred.

Even if you had some level of negligence (say you were parked in a no-parking zone), as long as you were 50 percent or less culpable for the accident, you could recover funds under Illinois’ modified comparative negligence law.

Uninsured Motorists

Illinois is one of the few states to require uninsured motorist coverage, even though the Insurance Research Council estimated in 2019 that only 12 percent of the state’s drivers lacked insurance — a relatively low percentage.

DUI Laws

If you get a DUI in Illinois, it will stay on your record for five years, with a six-month license suspension for the first offense and a mandatory interlock. If your blood alcohol concentration was 0.16 percent or higher, you could face even more punishments.

Seat Belt Laws

No matter what seat you’re in, seat belts are mandatory for those 16 and older in Illinois, with the law under primary enforcement. That means police can pull you over merely for someone in your car not wearing their seat belt, with no other traffic violations necessary.

Distracted Driving Laws

Illinois has a ban on handheld electronic devices for all drivers, under primary enforcement. If you’re caught driving distracted by a phone, tablet, or laptop, you will be given five points per violation and fined.

• First offense: $75
• Second offense: $100
• Third offense: $125
• Fourth and subsequent offenses: $150³

Young Driver Laws

In Illinois, 16- and 17-year-old drivers are in their initial licensing phase for the first 12 months after obtaining their licenses. During this phase, they must adhere to a few restrictions.

• Curfew: From Sunday to Thursday, the curfew is 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., but it’s 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
• Limited passengers: During the first year of their license, or before they turn 18, drivers can only drive one passenger under age 20 unless the passengers are their siblings, children, stepsiblings, or stepchildren.
• Clean driving record: For the first six months of their license or until they turn 18 (whichever comes first), teen drivers need to maintain clean driving records free of convictions. If they don’t, it will delay them entering the full licensing phase.

Statute of Limitations: Property Damage and Personal Injury Claims

You have five years to file property damage claims and two years to file personal injury claims, due to Illinois’ statutes of limitations.

Non-Renewal and Cancellation Notification Laws

If an insurance company in Illinois cancels a policy, it must alert the customer 30 days before the expiration date, or 10 days before if the cancellation is due to nonpayment. For non-renewal of policies, the window is 30 days.⁴

Self-Insurance Option

If you have more than 25 vehicles, you can self-insure rather than purchasing a personal auto insurance policy. However, self-insurance is completely at the discretion of the Illinois Department of Insurance’s director, so it’s unclear how doable this is in practice.

Inspection Requirements

The state of Illinois requires either annual or biannual emission inspections for some cars in certain counties and townships.

How often you have to get your car inspected depends on what it carries and where it drives.

• Interstate carriers of property: Annual inspections
• Intrastate carriers of property: Biannual inspections
• Interstate carriers of passengers: Both annually and biannually⁵

You can find an inspection station here: https://idot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=40e56aad7a294032b84651dc41109f79.

SR-22s

You’ll have to maintain an SR-22 form as proof of minimum insurance if:

• You’ve had safety responsibility suspensions, unsatisfied judgment suspicions, mandatory insurance supervisions, or revocations.
• You’ve had three or more convictions for driving without insurance.

In some cases, you can request your SR-22 be waived through an affidavit.

Defensive Driving Courses

Remember when we mentioned you could get a discount for taking a defensive driving course? In Illinois, take just one class and that discount can last up to three years. Find a class here: https://apps.ilsos.gov/adultdrivered/providerlist.

Right to Sue

Illinois doesn’t pose a serious injury or monetary threshold you need to meet in order to sue for economic or noneconomic damages after a car accident.

Do I Have to Report a Car Accident in Illinois?

If you are involved in a car accident that results in any injury, property damage, or death worth more than $1,500 (or $500 if any involved car wasn’t insured), you’ll have to report it within 10 days or face a license suspension.

Discrimination Laws

Illinois allows insurance companies to base prices on both credit scores and gender, so people with bad credit and men will pay higher car insurance premiums.

Total Loss Formula

Illinois uses the class total loss formula, so a car is deemed a total loss when the repairs would cost more than its salvage value.

Since dealing with government websites is never fun, we’ve done the brunt of the work for you. Find all the contact information and processes you need for auto-related issues in Illinois below.

New Registration

Follow these steps to register a car for the first time:

1. Fill out the tax form RUT-25: https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/forms/sales/Documents/vehicleusetax/rut-25-instr.pdf.
2. Write a $151 check payable to the Illinois Department of Revenue (plus $150 if you also need a vehicle title).
3. Submit the form online or at your nearest Illinois Secretary of State facility: https://apps.ilsos.gov/facilityfinder/facility.
4. Alternatively, you can mail the form to this address:
   • Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department
     501 S. 2nd St., Room 14
     Springfield, IL 62756

Registration Renewal

Here’s how to renew your registration:

1. Fill out the VSD 190 form, which you can get either online (https://apps.ilsos.gov/LicenseRenewal/) or at your nearest Illinois Secretary of State facility (see above). You can also call 866-545-9609 to collect the form.
2. Gather the proper fee (see the table below).

3. Either submit payment online or send a check payable to the Illinois Secretary of State. You can also drop it off at your nearest Secretary of State facility, but make sure to bring your renewal notice and payment in the form of a check, cash, traveler’s check, or credit card.

In Illinois, car repairs cost 3 percent less than the national average at $372.51. That’s $227.32 for parts and $145.19 for labor, according to a report from CarMD.

Illinois falls below the national average for auto theft, but above it for traffic fatalities.

Car Theft Rates

The state’s annual car theft rate is 170 per 100,000 inhabitants, 45 percent lower than the rest of the country, according to FBI data. However, rates are higher in metropolitan areas like the St. Louis area, Davenport, Carbondale, and Chicago, as stated by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Traffic Fatality Rates

Unfortunately, the state doesn’t fare so well in traffic fatalities. Illinois is ninth in the nation, with 1,009 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled. That’s nearly a third more than the national average, according to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

From 2019 to 2020 alone, motor vehicle fatalities increased by 16 percent in Illinois, a high since 2007. State officials blame speeding and other risky driving behaviors. While roads that feel emptier than normal may seem safer, reckless driving still has deadly consequences.⁶

As you can see in our state driving guide, every state has different legislation for car insurance and driving. Some states don’t require auto insurance at all, for example! But whether you’re driving down the Magnificent Mile in Chicago or a rural street in Elsah, Jersey County, keep Illinois’ laws in mind to avoid sullying that perfect driving history of yours.