Bill Text: IL SB1646 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that no policy which provides underinsured motor vehicle coverage shall be renewed, delivered, or issued for delivery unless it provides that any dispute with respect to the coverage and the amount of damages shall be submitted for arbitration to the American Arbitration Association and be subject to its rules for the conduct of arbitration hearings as to all matters except medical opinions. Provides the rules for arbitration in which a claimant is only seeking monetary damages up to certain limits. Provides rules for proposing to use the written opinion or testimony of an expert or opinion witness. Provides rules for subpoenaing the author or maker of a document. Provides that certain provisions in the Code of Civil Procedure shall be applicable to arbitration hearings.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SB1646 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-SB1646-Introduced.html

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100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 SB1646 Introduced 2/9/2017, by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
215 ILCS 5/143a-2 from Ch. 73, par. 755a-2
Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that no policy which provides underinsured motor vehicle coverage shall be renewed, delivered, or issued for delivery unless it provides that any dispute with respect to the coverage and the amount of damages shall be submitted for arbitration to the American Arbitration Association and be subject to its rules for the conduct of arbitration hearings as to all matters except medical opinions. Provides the rules for arbitration in which a claimant is only seeking monetary damages up to certain limits. Provides rules for proposing to use the written opinion or testimony of an expert or opinion witness. Provides rules for subpoenaing the author or maker of a document. Provides that certain provisions in the Code of Civil Procedure shall be applicable to arbitration hearings.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Insurance Code is amended by
changing Section 143a-2 as follows:
(215 ILCS 5/143a-2) (from Ch. 73, par. 755a-2)
Sec. 143a-2. (1) Additional uninsured motor vehicle
coverage. No policy insuring against loss resulting from
liability imposed by law for bodily injury or death suffered by
any person arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of
a motor vehicle shall be renewed or delivered or issued for
delivery in this State with respect to any motor vehicle
designed for use on public highways and required to be
registered in this State unless uninsured motorist coverage as
required in Section 143a of this Code is included in an amount
equal to the insured's bodily injury liability limits unless
specifically rejected by the insured as provided in paragraph
(2) of this Section. Each insurance company providing the
coverage must provide applicants with a brief description of
the coverage and advise them of their right to reject the
coverage in excess of the limits set forth in Section 7-203 of
The Illinois Vehicle Code. The provisions of this amendatory
Act of 1990 apply to policies of insurance applied for after

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June 30, 1991.
(2) Right of rejection of additional uninsured motorist
coverage. Any named insured or applicant may reject additional
uninsured motorist coverage in excess of the limits set forth
in Section 7-203 of the Illinois Vehicle Code by making a
written request for limits of uninsured motorist coverage which
are less than bodily injury liability limits or a written
rejection of limits in excess of those required by law. This
election or rejection shall be binding on all persons insured
under the policy. In those cases where the insured has elected
to purchase limits of uninsured motorist coverage which are
less than bodily injury liability limits or to reject limits in
excess of those required by law, the insurer need not provide
in any renewal, reinstatement, reissuance, substitute,
amended, replacement or supplementary policy, coverage in
excess of that elected by the insured in connection with a
policy previously issued to such insured by the same insurer
unless the insured subsequently makes a written request for
such coverage.
(3) The original document indicating the applicant's
selection of uninsured motorist coverage limits shall
constitute sufficient evidence of the applicant's selection of
uninsured motorist coverage limits. For purposes of this
Section any reproduction of the document by means of
photograph, photostat, microfiche, computerized optical
imaging process, or other similar process or means of

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reproduction shall be deemed the equivalent of the original
document.
(4) For the purpose of this Code the term "underinsured
motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle whose ownership,
maintenance or use has resulted in bodily injury or death of
the insured, as defined in the policy, and for which the sum of
the limits of liability under all bodily injury liability
insurance policies or under bonds or other security required to
be maintained under Illinois law applicable to the driver or to
the person or organization legally responsible for such vehicle
and applicable to the vehicle, is less than the limits for
underinsured coverage provided the insured as defined in the
policy at the time of the accident. The limits of liability for
an insurer providing underinsured motorist coverage shall be
the limits of such coverage, less those amounts actually
recovered under the applicable bodily injury insurance
policies, bonds or other security maintained on the
underinsured motor vehicle.
On or after July 1, 1983, no policy insuring against loss
resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury or
death suffered by any person arising out of the ownership,
maintenance or use of a motor vehicle shall be renewed or
delivered or issued for delivery in this State with respect to
any motor vehicle designed for use on public highways and
required to be registered in this State unless underinsured
motorist coverage is included in such policy in an amount equal

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to the total amount of uninsured motorist coverage provided in
that policy where such uninsured motorist coverage exceeds the
limits set forth in Section 7-203 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
The changes made to this subsection (4) by this amendatory
Act of the 93rd General Assembly apply to policies issued or
renewed on or after December 1, 2004.
(5) Scope. Nothing herein shall prohibit an insurer from
setting forth policy terms and conditions which provide that if
the insured has coverage available under this Section under
more than one policy or provision of coverage, any recovery or
benefits may be equal to, but may not exceed, the higher of the
applicable limits of the respective coverage, and the limits of
liability under this Section shall not be increased because of
multiple motor vehicles covered under the same policy of
insurance. Insurers providing liability coverage on an excess
or umbrella basis are neither required to provide, nor are they
prohibited from offering or making available coverages
conforming to this Section on a supplemental basis.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, an insurer
shall not be prohibited from solely providing a combination of
uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages where the limits
of liability under each coverage is in the same amount.
(6) Subrogation against underinsured motorists. No insurer
shall exercise any right of subrogation under a policy
providing additional uninsured motorist coverage against an
underinsured motorist where the insurer has been provided with

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written notice in advance of a settlement between its insured
and the underinsured motorist and the insurer fails to advance
a payment to the insured, in an amount equal to the tentative
settlement, within 30 days following receipt of such notice.
(7) A policy which provides underinsured motor vehicle
coverage may include a clause which denies payment until the
limits of liability or portion thereof under all bodily injury
liability insurance policies applicable to the underinsured
motor vehicle and its operators have been partially or fully
exhausted by payment of judgment or settlement. A judgment or
settlement of the bodily injury claim in an amount less than
the limits of liability of the bodily injury coverages
applicable to the claim shall not preclude the claimant from
making an underinsured motorist claim against the underinsured
motorist coverage. Any such provision in a policy of insurance
shall be inapplicable if the insured, or the legal
representative of the insured, and the insurer providing
underinsured motor vehicle coverage agree that the insured has
suffered bodily injury or death as the result of the negligent
operation, maintenance, or use of an underinsured motor vehicle
and, without arbitration, agree also on the amount of damages
that the insured is legally entitled to collect. The maximum
amount payable pursuant to such an underinsured motor vehicle
insurance settlement agreement shall not exceed the amount by
which the limits of the underinsured motorist coverage exceed
the limits of the bodily injury liability insurance of the

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owner or operator of the underinsured motor vehicle. Any such
agreement shall be final as to the amount due and shall be
binding upon both the insured and the underinsured motorist
insurer regardless of the amount of any judgment, or any
settlement reached between any insured and the person or
persons responsible for the accident. No such settlement
agreement shall be concluded unless: (i) the insured has
complied with all other applicable policy terms and conditions;
and (ii) before the conclusion of the settlement agreement, the
insured has filed suit against the underinsured motor vehicle
owner or operator and has not abandoned the suit, or settled
the suit without preserving the rights of the insurer providing
underinsured motor vehicle coverage in the manner described in
paragraph (6) of this Section.
(8) No policy which provides underinsured motor vehicle
coverage shall be renewed, delivered, or issued for delivery in
this State unless it is provided therein that any dispute with
respect to the coverage and the amount of damages shall be
submitted for arbitration to the American Arbitration
Association and be subject to its rules for the conduct of
arbitration hearings as to all matters except medical opinions.
As to medical opinions, if the amount of damages being sought
is equal to or less than the amount provided for in Section
7-203 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, then the current American
Arbitration Association Rules shall apply. If the amount being
sought in an American Arbitration Association case exceeds that

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amount as set forth in Section 7-203 of the Illinois Vehicle
Code, then the Rules of Evidence that apply in the circuit
court for placing medical opinions into evidence shall govern.
Alternatively, disputes with respect to damages and the
coverage shall be determined in the following manner: Upon the
insured requesting arbitration, each party to the dispute shall
select an arbitrator and the 2 arbitrators so named shall
select a third arbitrator. If such arbitrators are not selected
within 45 days from such request, either party may request that
the arbitration be submitted to the American Arbitration
Association. Any decision made by the arbitrators shall be
binding for the amount of damages not exceeding $75,000 for
bodily injury to or death of any one person, $150,000 for
bodily injury to or death of 2 or more persons in any one motor
vehicle accident, or the corresponding policy limits for bodily
injury or death, whichever is less. All 3-person arbitration
cases proceeding in accordance with any underinsured motorist
coverage conducted in this State in which the claimant is only
seeking monetary damages up to the limits set forth in Section
7-203 of the Illinois Vehicle Code shall be subject to the
following rules:
(A) If at least 60 days' written notice of the
intention to offer the following documents in evidence is
given to every other party, accompanied by a copy of the
document, a party may offer in evidence, without foundation
or other proof:

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(1) bills, records, and reports of hospitals,
doctors, dentists, registered nurses, licensed
practical nurses, physical therapists, and other
healthcare providers;
(2) bills for drugs, medical appliances, and
prostheses;
(3) property repair bills or estimates, when
identified and itemized setting forth the charges for
labor and material used or proposed for use in the
repair of the property;
(4) a report of the rate of earnings and time lost
from work or lost compensation prepared by an employer;
(5) the written opinion of an opinion witness, the
deposition of a witness, and the statement of a witness
that the witness would be allowed to express if
testifying in person, if the opinion or statement is
made by affidavit or by certification as provided in
Section 1-109 of the Code of Civil Procedure; and
(6) any other document not specifically covered by
any of the foregoing provisions that is otherwise
admissible under the rules of evidence.
Any party receiving a notice under this paragraph (A)
may apply to the arbitrator or panel of arbitrators, as the
case may be, for the issuance of a subpoena directed to the
author or maker or custodian of the document that is the
subject of the notice, requiring the person subpoenaed to

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produce copies of any additional documents as may be
related to the subject matter of the document that is the
subject of the notice. Any such subpoena shall be issued in
substantially similar form and served by notice as provided
by Illinois Supreme Court Rule 204(a)(4). Any such subpoena
shall be returnable not less than 5 days before the
arbitration hearing.
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of Supreme Court
Rule 213(g), a party who proposes to use a written opinion
of an expert or opinion witness or the testimony of an
expert or opinion witness at the hearing may do so provided
a written notice of that intention is given to every other
party not less than 60 days prior to the date of hearing,
accompanied by a statement containing the identity of the
witness, his or her qualifications, the subject matter, the
basis of the witness's conclusions, and his or her opinion.
(C) Any other party may subpoena the author or maker of
a document admissible under this subsection, at that
party's expense, and examine the author or maker as if
under cross-examination. The provisions of Section 2-1101
of the Code of Civil Procedure shall be applicable to
arbitration hearings, and it shall be the duty of a party
requesting the subpoena to modify the form to show that the
appearance is set before an arbitration panel and to give
the time and place set for the hearing.
(D) The provisions of Section 2-1102 of the Code of

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Civil Procedure shall be applicable to arbitration
hearings under this subsection.
(Source: P.A. 93-762, eff. 7-16-04.)