Uninsured Motorist After an I-355 Crash

Priya Nair is merging onto I-355 toward the western suburbs when another driver cuts across two lanes and hits her compact SUV. The other car has Illinois liability at the legal minimum. Priya’s shoulder surgery, physical therapy, and lost time from work will not fit inside $25,000 per person.

This is a hypothetical composite. The people are fictitious. It is educational — not a real client, not a paid Hausman-Kunkel claim, and not a promise of how any carrier would settle.

Illinois still has drivers who buy only what the plate requires. Uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage are how your auto insurance is supposed to respond when theirs runs out.

What happened on the highway

The crash is a typical collar-county commute: wet pavement, stop-and-go, a late merge. The other driver is at fault. Their policy pays what it can, then stops. Priya’s medical bills keep going.

Collision may put her SUV back together, minus the deductible. That is the sheet metal. It is not the hospital. Health insurance may have deductibles and out-of-network surprises of its own. Medical payments, if she carried it, is a smaller first-dollar layer — not a substitute for UM/UIM.

If Priya only bought 25/50 uninsured motorist because “the state already requires it,” she has the same problem twice: a thin limit on the other policy, and a thin limit on hers.

What the auto policy is meant to do

A personal auto form is several coverages stacked, not one “full coverage” switch.

• Liability pays others when you cause the crash.
• Collision and comprehensive repair or replace your vehicle after a covered loss.
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist can pay your bodily injury when the at-fault driver has no insurance, not enough insurance, or flees.
• Medical payments can help with bills regardless of fault, if you added it.

“Full coverage” is not a legal term. Lenders care about collision and comprehensive. Your household should care about UM/UIM as much as the car payment.

The gap: 25/50 on a serious injury

Illinois 25/50/20 is a floor for registering a vehicle. It is not sized for a highway injury, a multi-car pileup, or a passenger in the other car.

Underinsured motorist coverage is the usual conversation when the other driver has insurance — just not enough. The claim against their 25/50 closes. Yours is supposed to continue, up to the UM/UIM limit you actually bought.

A personal umbrella can sit over auto liability. It does not automatically replace UM/UIM on the auto form. We check both.

Illinois details drivers still miss

UM bodily injury is required at the statutory minimum and generally cannot be waived there. Higher UM/UIM that matches your liability is offered; rejecting it is a written choice, not a default.

Property damage on the other driver’s 20,000 limit may not replace a late-model SUV. Collision is how your car gets repaired while that fight continues.

Illinois is not no-fault. You still need the at-fault driver’s policy — or yours — to respond. PIP is not the Illinois model.

Teen drivers and extra cars change who is rated, not whether UM still matters. A household with three commuters on I-290 and I-355 has more chances to meet an uninsured driver, not fewer.

What we recommend for Illinois drivers

1. Raise liability above 25/50/20 if you have savings, a house, or a job that would be hard to replace after a judgment.
2. Match uninsured and underinsured motorist limits to that liability — do not leave UM at the legal minimum “to save a line.”
3. Keep collision if you could not write a check for the car tomorrow, and pick a deductible you can actually fund.
4. Ask about medical payments as a small layer while health insurance and UM catch up.
5. Talk to an independent agent — we compare auto insurance across multiple carriers, not a single company menu.

For plain-language definitions of uninsured motorist, deductible, and liability, use the insurance glossary.

Ready for a coverage review?

Request a quote or call 630-894-7510. Hausman-Kunkel Insurance has served Illinois from downtown Roselle since 1966.