Legal Question in Insurance Law in Illinois

Re: Foreign assets liability

Q. Hi, I'm from England and I'm living in the U.S. (Chicago) for one year. I have been advised that I should purchase car insurance offering only state minimum coverage for Body Injury Liability and Property Damage Liability because my U.K. assets will not be at risk in the event of an accident (and I have very limited U.S. assets). Is this true?

A. Jacob - No it's not true. However, it would be so difficult, in practice, to garnish/seize those assets that unless you are talking about a figure in the high six figures with a high probability of collection your assets in England would be safe.

Now - here is the MORE important question, what if someone hits YOU and you have medical bills in the amount of $50,000 and cannot work?

What if they only have the required minimum?

The main reason to purchase a larger policy is to protect YOU by also purchasing "under"-insured motorist coverage as well as "un"-insured motorist coverage for uninsured drivers.

You can only (generally) purchase that type of coverage in an amount equal to (or less than) the amount of your own liability coverage - so the real beneficiary to any insurance policy is really you.

The cost of a larger policy is well worth the potential benefit if an unforeseen event (e.g., accident) occurs.

Matt Belcher