Illinois Car Insurance

Illinois drivers must carry at least 25/50/20 liability coverage: 25/50 bodily injury under 625 ILCS 5/7-601 plus $20,000 property damage under 625 ILCS 5/7-203¹². Illinois is a traditional tort state, so no PIP is required⁸. UM is mandatory at 25/50 under 215 ILCS 5/143a; UIM is required to equal UM whenever the insured purchases UM above the statutory floor under 215 ILCS 5/143a-2⁶⁷. ILIVS (625 ILCS 5/7-603.5) matches plate and VIN against insurer-reported coverage at least twice a year³⁹. 50 Illinois Administrative Code Part 919 includes the consumer Right of Recourse for total-loss claims¹⁰.

The 25/50/20 minimum: what it actually covers

Illinois sets its liability floor in two statutes. 625 ILCS 5/7-601 compels every registered motor vehicle to carry Illinois statutory bodily-injury minimums; 625 ILCS 5/7-203 sets the property-damage minimum at $20,000 per accident¹². The three numbers refer to:

• $25,000 bodily injury per person. The maximum your policy pays for one injured person's medical bills, lost wages, and related bodily-injury costs when you are at fault.
• $50,000 bodily injury per accident. The maximum your policy pays across all injured people in one accident when you are at fault.
• $20,000 property damage per accident. The maximum your policy pays to repair or replace someone else's vehicle or other property. Note that $20,000 is unusually low relative to modern vehicle replacement costs; it is the most frequent exposure gap for Illinois minimum-limits drivers.

Many Illinois drivers carry higher limits because 25/50/20 is calibrated to the smallest allowed exposure, not to typical household risk.

PIP is not required (traditional tort state)

Illinois is a traditional tort state. No PIP is required on personal auto. Medical Payments (MedPay) is an optional first-party add-on insurers typically offer; it does not substitute for liability⁸.

Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)

215 ILCS 5/143a requires Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury on every Illinois personal auto policy at the 25/50 minimum⁶. UM Property Damage is optional under Illinois law; the statute does not compel it.

Underinsured Motorist works on a trigger. 215 ILCS 5/143a-2 requires UIM to equal the UM limits the insured has purchased whenever the insured chooses UM above the statutory floor⁷. In plain terms: if you buy UM at 25/50, UIM is not statutorily required. If you buy UM at 100/300, UIM must be 100/300.

ILIVS: how Illinois verifies coverage

ILIVS (Illinois Insurance Verification System) is the Illinois Secretary of State's electronic verification program under 625 ILCS 5/7-603.5. Online since 2020. ILIVS matches each registered vehicle's plate and VIN against insurer-reported coverage data at least twice a year³⁹.

If ILIVS cannot confirm coverage, the Secretary of State suspends the vehicle registration under 625 ILCS 5/7-606. The owner must pay a $100 reinstatement fee and provide proof of insurance before the Secretary reinstates the registration⁴⁹.

Penalties for driving uninsured (625 ILCS 5/3-707)

Operating an Illinois motor vehicle without the required insurance is a separate statutory offense from the ILIVS registration suspension. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-707⁵:

• First or second conviction: fine greater than $500 up to $1,000.
• Third or subsequent conviction: minimum $1,000 fine.
• License suspension: three months, plus a $100 reinstatement fee before the license may be reinstated.
• Violation while suspended: additional six-month suspension and reinstatement fee.

For a general handling of lapse mechanics that applies across states, see our after-a-lapse guide.

50 Ill. Admin. Code Part 919: Right of Recourse for total-loss claims

50 Illinois Administrative Code Part 919 governs total-loss auto claim handling. The regulation includes the consumer Right of Recourse: if the insured cannot purchase a substantially similar replacement vehicle for the settlement amount within 30 days, the insurer must either pay the difference, locate a comparable vehicle, or invoke the policy appraisal section¹⁰.

Part 919 also states that advertisements are not acceptable sources of market value; insurers rely on guidebooks or computerized data¹⁰. The full Part 919 mechanics live on our car-totaled guide, which already treats the Right of Recourse directly.

Rating-factor landscape

Illinois does not maintain a headline statewide prohibition on credit-based insurance scoring, gender, or age as personal-auto rating factors. Insurer rating is overseen by the Illinois Department of Insurance through rate filings and consumer-complaint review⁸. For how insurers across states weigh individual factors, see our how insurers calculate rates guide.

Where the Illinois situation rules live on YesWeSure

This State Guide owns the Illinois pricing and legal framework. Situation-specific Illinois mechanics already live on the sibling Situation guides:

• After an accident. Fault handling, carrier process, and surcharge mechanics are treated in our after-an-accident guide.
• After a DUI. Illinois SR-22 post-conviction filing and reinstatement mechanics are treated in our after-a-DUI guide.
• After a lapse. ILIVS-driven consequences of a lapse in coverage, together with the 625 ILCS 5/3-707 driver-license penalties, are treated in our after-a-lapse guide.
• Moving into Illinois. New-resident registration and ILIVS enrollment are treated in our moving-to-another-state guide.
• Total-loss / car-totaled. The full 50 Ill. Admin. Code Part 919 Right of Recourse mechanics are treated in our car-totaled guide.

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