Do You Need Uninsured Motorist Property Damage in Illinois?

In Illinois, uninsured motorist property damage insurance is optional coverage that every auto insurer must offer you, and if you keep it, it pays to repair your vehicle when an identified, at-fault, uninsured driver damages it. Payment is capped at your car’s actual cash value, and state law limits the deductible to $250.¹ You can decline it, and many drivers do, usually without realizing what the coverage would and wouldn’t have done for them.

What UMPD Pays For

UMPD covers damage to your vehicle caused by an at-fault driver who carries no liability insurance. The maximum payout is the lesser of your car’s actual cash value or the UMPD limit on your policy. The deductible cannot exceed $250 by statute, which is the coverage’s biggest selling point: collision deductibles typically run $500 to $1,000.¹

The law lets insurers write in several real limits. Your policy may require actual physical contact between the uninsured car and yours. Loss of use while your car is in the shop is not covered. Personal property inside the car — a laptop, a child’s car seat — is not covered either.¹

UMPD sits alongside the uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage every Illinois policy must include automatically. The two coverages address different losses: injuries to people on one side, damage to your car on the other. Only the property-damage half is something you have to actively choose to keep.

The Identified Driver Rule

This is where UMPD surprises people. Illinois law states there is no UMPD liability if the at-fault uninsured driver cannot be identified.¹ You need the other driver’s name and address, or at minimum a license plate and vehicle description. The Illinois Department of Insurance puts it the same way: UMPD “covers damage to your vehicle caused by an identified, at-fault, uninsured driver.”²

A hit-and-run where the driver vanishes is the classic gap. If police later track the driver down and that driver turns out to be uninsured, UMPD can pay. If the driver is never found, UMPD cannot help you, and collision coverage becomes your only route to a repair check. Policies that include the physical-contact requirement also exclude the case where an uninsured driver forces you off the road without touching your car.

UMPD or Collision: Which One You Actually Need

UMPD and collision both pay to fix your car, but they are not interchangeable. The right question is which one you need, not whether to have both.

Collision is broader. It pays regardless of fault, covers single-car accidents, and pays whether the other driver is insured, uninsured, or never identified. Collision premiums are higher because the coverage does more work, and the deductible is usually $500 or $1,000.

UMPD is narrower and cheaper. It pays only when an identified, at-fault, uninsured driver damages your car. The $250 statutory deductible cap is the advantage; the identified-driver requirement is the limit.¹

Two practical situations shape the choice:

If you already carry collision, adding UMPD gives you a lower-deductible path for the specific case of an uninsured at-fault driver. File the UMPD claim first in that scenario — the smaller deductible keeps more money in your pocket.
If you’ve dropped collision because your car isn’t worth insuring that way, UMPD gives you at least some protection against uninsured drivers at a fraction of collision’s cost.³

What UMPD won’t substitute for is collision’s broader fault coverage. If you cause the accident yourself, or if the other driver cannot be identified, UMPD does nothing.

How Comparative Fault Can Shrink Your Payout

Illinois uses modified comparative fault. If you’re 50% or less at fault for the crash, you can still recover, but your payout is reduced by your share of the blame. More than 50% at fault, and you recover nothing.⁴

A worked example: an uninsured driver runs a red light and hits you, but you were going 15 mph over the speed limit. If you’re assigned 20% of the fault, your UMPD payout drops by 20%. On $10,000 in damage, you’d see $8,000 before the deductible comes out.⁵

Adjusters know this rule and use it in negotiation. If one suggests you shared fault, don’t agree reflexively. The police report, witness statements, and photos from the scene are what back you up.

Filing a UMPD Claim

Call your insurer as soon as you can after the accident. Policies have reporting windows, and delay gives the insurer room to question the claim. Have the following ready:

A police report. File one at the scene when possible. The report documents fault, the other driver’s information, and the circumstances.
The other driver’s name, address, license plate, and vehicle description. Without an identification, UMPD will not pay.¹
Photos of the damage, taken at the scene and again before any repairs begin.
Contact information for anyone who witnessed the crash.

An adjuster will inspect the damage and confirm the other driver is actually uninsured. If that driver claims coverage but can’t produce proof, that works in your favor; Illinois requires every driver to carry liability insurance, and the inability to show proof supports treating the driver as uninsured.⁶

The fight, when there is one, is usually about your car’s actual cash value, because that figure caps your payout. If the insurer’s number looks low, gather comparable sale prices for your year, make, model, mileage, and condition. An independent appraisal strengthens your position.

If the insurer pays and later recovers money from the at-fault driver through subrogation, you may get your deductible refunded. Recoveries are often thin because uninsured drivers frequently have no assets, but they do happen. Don’t settle separately with the other driver without talking to your insurer first — that can undermine the recovery and your own claim.

If Your Claim Is Denied or Underpaid

You have options. Start with your policy’s dispute-resolution clause. Many Illinois auto policies include arbitration for uninsured motorist disputes, which 215 ILCS 5/143a contemplates. Arbitration is faster and cheaper than a lawsuit, and whether the result binds you depends on how the policy is written.

You can also file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Insurance, which accepts complaints online and by mail and will investigate how the insurer handled your claim.⁷ A regulatory complaint doesn’t directly raise your settlement, but insurers tend to pay closer attention when a state regulator is asking.

If the insurer’s handling crosses into bad faith, 215 ILCS 5/155 allows a separate court action for vexatious and unreasonable delay, with attorney fees and additional damages available beyond the policy limits. Illinois courts have held that this kind of bad-faith claim belongs in court even when the underlying uninsured motorist dispute was arbitrated.¹

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 215 ILCS 5/143a
2
Illinois Department of Insurance. Auto Insurance Definitions
3
Illinois Department of Insurance. Auto Insurance Shopping Guide
4
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/2-1116
5
Illinois Department of Insurance. Comparative Negligence
6
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 625 ILCS 5/7-601
7
Illinois Department of Insurance. How to File a Complaint