Key Takeaways
- Minimum UIM protects you against nobody who matters. This is the point of the article.
- A vehicle is only “underinsured” if its limits are below yours. Equal limits mean no claim.
- Coverage does not add together. UIM pays its limit less what you already recovered.
- Raise your own liability limits and UM follows, because the statute ties them together.
- You cannot stack policies across your vehicles.
The decision this article is about
Illinois requires every policy to include uninsured motorist coverage, so the question is not whether you have it. It is how much, and that decision is worth more than most people realize, for a reason buried in the definition of “underinsured.”
What the coverage is, and why it is mandatory, is covered in uninsured motorist coverage in Illinois. This is about choosing the number.
The trap in carrying the minimum
Read the statutory definition carefully, because everything follows from it.
215 ILCS 5/143a-2(4) defines an “underinsured motor vehicle” as one where the sum of the applicable bodily injury liability limits “is less than the limits for underinsured coverage provided the insured… at the time of the crash.”
Now apply it to the most common crash there is. Illinois requires drivers to carry only $25,000 for bodily injury to one person under 625 ILCS 5/7-203. Suppose you carry the minimum too:
| Their limits | Your UIM limits | Underinsured? | Total available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 | $25,000 | No — not less than yours | $25,000 |
| $25,000 | $100,000 | جی ہاں | $100,000 |
| $25,000 | $500,000 | جی ہاں | $500,000 |
Minimum underinsured cover gives you nothing against a minimum-limits driver, because their vehicle is not underinsured as the statute defines it. Their limits are not below yours; they are the same. And a minimum-limits driver is precisely the driver you most need protecting from.
Why the totals do not add up
The second half of 143a-2(4) explains the right-hand column above. The UIM insurer’s limit is the limit of that coverage less those amounts actually recovered under the at-fault policy.
So with $100,000 of UIM and $25,000 recovered from the other driver, your insurer pays $75,000, and you have $100,000 in total — not $125,000. Your own limit is the ceiling on the whole insurance recovery, not a figure stacked on top of theirs.
That is the correct way to read your own declarations page: the UIM number is the most you can end up with.
Raising your liability limits raises your UM automatically
Under 215 ILCS 5/143a-2(1), uninsured motorist coverage must be included equal to your bodily injury liability limits unless the excess was specifically rejected in writing. The two move together.
So the practical step is usually to raise the liability limits and confirm no written rejection is on file. Under 143a-2(2) a rejection is binding on everyone insured under the policy, so one signed years ago still governs today, for every driver in the household.
Ask your insurer directly whether a rejection is recorded. It is the single most useful question you can put to them, and most people have never asked it.
What you cannot do
You cannot stack. Under 215 ILCS 5/143a, limits for coverage on one vehicle may not be aggregated with similar coverage on your other vehicles, whether with the same insurer or a different one, in determining the total available for bodily injury to one person in any one crash.
Insuring three cars therefore does not triple your protection. Only the applicable policy’s limits matter, which is another reason the limit itself has to be adequate.
Who this matters most to
- Motorcyclists, whose injuries are severe and who exhaust small policies quickly. See is $25,000 enough after a motorcycle crash.
- Anyone with dependents, since a serious injury takes out an income as well as causing medical costs.
- Pedestrians and cyclists, because your own auto policy can respond even when you were not in a car.
- People who commute a lot, for the obvious reason of exposure.
If it has already happened
Get the declarations page and check the UM and UIM limits rather than assuming the minimum. Under 143a, disputes about coverage and the amount of damages go to arbitration before the American Arbitration Association. And check whether anyone else may be liable, including an employer, a vehicle owner or a public body, before concluding the cover is all there is. See can you sue an uninsured driver.
اکثر پوچھے گئے سوالات
How much uninsured motorist coverage should I carry in Illinois?
More than the statutory minimum. Because 215 ILCS 5/143a-2(4) defines an underinsured vehicle as one whose limits are less than yours, carrying the $25,000 minimum means a driver with the same $25,000 is not underinsured and no UIM claim arises. Your own limit is also the ceiling on the total insurance recovery.
Why does minimum coverage leave me unprotected?
Because underinsured motorist coverage only engages where the at-fault driver’s limits are below yours. If you both carry $25,000, their vehicle is not underinsured as defined, so the coverage does nothing precisely in the case you bought it for.
Do my limits add to the other driver’s?
No. Under 215 ILCS 5/143a-2(4) the underinsured insurer’s limit is its coverage limit less the amounts actually recovered under the at-fault policy. With $100,000 of UIM and $25,000 recovered, your insurer pays $75,000, giving $100,000 in total rather than $125,000.
How do I increase my uninsured motorist coverage?
Usually by raising your bodily injury liability limits, because 215 ILCS 5/143a-2(1) requires UM coverage equal to those limits unless the excess was specifically rejected in writing. Ask your insurer whether a written rejection is on file, since under 143a-2(2) it binds everyone insured under the policy.
Can I combine coverage across my vehicles?
No. 215 ILCS 5/143a prevents limits on one vehicle being aggregated with similar coverage on other vehicles, whether with the same insurer or another, when determining the total available to one person in any one crash. Insuring several cars does not multiply your protection.
Does this coverage help if I was walking or cycling?
Often yes. The coverage required by 215 ILCS 5/143a is for bodily injury suffered by persons insured under the policy who are legally entitled to recover from an uninsured or hit-and-run vehicle, and being outside a car does not by itself prevent that. Whether it responds depends on the policy terms and who counts as an insured.
Talk to an Elmwood Park car accident lawyer
The uninsured motorist decision is unusual in that it costs relatively little, most people get it wrong in the same direction, and the mistake only becomes visible when it is far too late to fix. Carrying the minimum is not modest cover; against the driver you most need protection from, it is no cover at all.
If you were hurt by an uninsured or underinsured driver in Elmwood Park, Oak Lawn, Skokie, Niles, Orland Park or anywhere in Cook County, Lawyer Furqan will read your policy and find every layer of coverage that applies.
Call 847-800-8978 or contact us online. The consultation is free, there is nothing upfront, and you owe no attorney’s fee unless we win.
Sources and authorities cited
- 215 ILCS 5/143a-2(1), (2) and (4) · UM equal to liability limits; written rejection binding all insureds; the definition of an underinsured vehicle; the offset
- 215 ILCS 5/143a · mandatory coverage, AAA arbitration, anti-stacking
- 625 ILCS 5/7-203 · minimum limits of $25,000, $50,000 and $20,000
This article is general legal information about Illinois law, not legal advice, and creates no attorney-client relationship. It is not insurance advice and does not recommend any particular product or limit. What your policy provides depends on its terms and your elections.
