Illinois Statute Now Requires Equal Insurance Coverage For Drivers
Effective January 1, 2008, Illinois Statue, 215 ILCS 5/143.13a. Coverage for permissive drivers now requires insurance companies to provide the same liability limits for all users of private cars.
The Statute provides as follows:
Any policy of private passenger automobile insurance must provide the same limits of bodily injury liability, property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist bodily injury, and medical payments coverage to all persons insured under that policy, whether or not an insured person is a named insured or permissive user under the policy. If the policy insures more than one private passenger automobile, the limits available to the permissive user shall be the limits associated with the vehicle used by the permissive user when the loss occurs.
This statue overrules the Illinois Supreme Court decision in State Farm Mut. v. Illinois Farmers Ins., 875 N.E.2d 1096, 226 Ill.2d 395 (Ill., 2007). The Court had allowed the use of a “step-down” provision in a car insurance policy, which reduced the policy limits for permissive users. With the new statute, this liability reduction language is no longer enforceable.
