The State of Illinois raised the minimum liability limits for auto insurance effective January 1^st. This will not impact most Diederich customers because we did not write policies at the old minimum liability limits; they were simply insufficient if there was an accident. Minimum liability limits now provide $25,000 worth of bodily injury liability per person, not to exceed $50,000 total for the accident. That coverage is for those in the other vehicle or pedestrians. In this day and age, it is easy for injuries to exceed $25,000 for one person or $50,000 for the incident. You would be personally responsible for any costs exceeding your insurance limits, so in order to protect your personal assets, you may want to talk to us about increasing your coverage. In some instances, higher limits can be cheaper than minimum limits, however it costs you nothing to ask.

The other aspect of the minimum insurance limit increased by the state is for property damage. The minimum is now $20,000 to repair damage to the other person’s vehicle or property. At Diederich Insurance, our minimum has been $25,000 because, once again, the base level is insufficient if you are involved in a fender bender. You could take your chances that if you were to cause an accident you would only hit a junker, but if you hit a luxury vehicle, several vehicles or a new car, you would once again be on the hook for damages exceeding your policy limits. Moving up to the next level of property damage liability would take you to $50,000, and there would be a small increase in premium. We would be more than happy to discuss the options with you!