"It's the Law"

Insurance companies try to chisel the amount they pay by many means. One involves claiming comparative liability/negligence for causing an accident. Consumers should be on guard against an unjustified use of this principle.

If you live in Illinois you have seen the commercials for liability insurance. “You can lose your privilege to drive.” Why? Because Illinois has a mandatory liability insurance regulation. As at least one insurance company puts it in its television commercial, “it’s the law.” This was meant to protect residents from being hurt by an uninsured motorist. This protection is, in my opinion, a myth.

If you are hit by another you will be dealing with the other driver's insurance and you have what is called a "third party claim." In theory that company will pay your claim 100%.

However, Illinois is also a comparable negligence state. What this means is it is also "the law" that when an accident occurs it is not necessarily one person’s fault. It could be that each person is equally at fault in which case each party would pay for its own damages. Or maybe one person is more at fault than the other driver, say 90% with the other person being 10% at fault. And in that event both parties are financially responsible in direct comparison to its percentage of fault. Each situation was meant to be analyzed separately.

Now the insurance company adjuster may declare, even without fact, that you were at fault for your accident in some percentage and use that percentage to reduce the amount it pays for your property damage, loss of use, lost wages and personal injuries. Usually the percentage claimed is not enough to warrant getting a lawyer but enough that you feel taken because you had to pay something significant out of your pocket. If the damage is $2,000.00 and the adjuster claims you were 30% at fault, you get paid $600.00 less than what it costs to fix your vehicle, and you have to pay this difference.

Facts are the key to the use of comparative negligence in your accident because each accident must be analyzed on the basis of its facts.

Ask the adjuster to explain the facts on which he or she based this percentage of you fault. Do your homework before the conversation. Analyze the police report, both the description and the diagram as well as the photographs. Did the other driver admit negligence to the police officer? or did witnesses describe the accident? Did the officer give the other driver a traffic ticket? Why should you be responsible if the other driver admitted fault, if the witnesses said you did nothing wrong or if the other driver was given tickets and you weren't?

The State of Illinois has guaranteed sales for insurance companies through mandatory liability insurance. At the same time, it has given insurers what some would say is a negotiating tool but what I would consider “a license to steal” through comparable liability/negligence. If they steal from you, the expense of an attorney cannot be recovered, only the dollars that were stolen. With no clear third party bad faith language in place to encourage insurers to play fairly or potentially pay the penalty, has the State failed to protect consumers?

You can file a complaint with the Illinois Division of Insurance if you feel you are not being treated fairly by an insurance company.

Another place to air your opinion is at Insurance Gripe.Com, not a government agency but a place where you can let others know how an insurance company dealt with you.