A common risk faced by Illinois drivers is being struck by a driver that is underinsured. To save money on premiums, many drivers carry only the minimum amount of bodily injury liability coverage, which is $20,000. So what happens when you are involved in an accident with a driver who…
In car accident cases, lawyers for each party are permitted to conduct written discovery by issuing subpoenas, propounding a list of written questions called “interrogatories,” or serving document requests. The use of discovery to obtain personal information posted on social media sites has recently become a hot topic. To what…
Although amounts vary, nearly every state, including Illinois, requires minimum vehicle liability insurance. The mandate is designed to protect people from the risks posed by uninsured drivers. The reality, however, is that there are many uninsured motorists on the roads. Considering the most common personal injury claims arise from traffic…
Illinois Traffic Crash Reports are made by the police when a vehicle is involved in a collision (See an example Illinois Traffic Crash Report here). They are used for vehicle crashes, vehicle collisions with a pedestrian, and vehicle collisions with a bicyclist. If police are called to the scene of…
An uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) claim often arises after a car accident. If the person at-fault for the accident flees the scene and is unable to be located, or if the person at-fault does not have insurance or has inadequate insurance, an uninsured/underinsured claim (sometimes called, “UM/UIM”) should be brought immediately. UM/UIM…
The biggest distinction between filing a lawsuit against an individual for a car accident and filing an uninsured/underinsured motorist claim (UM/UIM claim) against an insurance carrier is that the latter will be sent to arbitration for adjudication. Illinois law requires insurance companies to include arbitration clauses in all insurance contracts…
A setoff is a defense to a legal judgment for damages. A setoff can be either partial or total. When an insured party is making a claim against their insurance company for an Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist claim (UM/UIM claim) for an auto accident, bike accident, or pedestrian accident, the amount awarded…
The decision in Nicholson v. State Farm Mut. Ins. Co. is a win for automobile insurance policyholders in Illinois. It also imposes a new obligation on insurance carriers to obtain a signed coverage election form before binding coverage, when the insured makes a “material change” in the policy. The Illinois…