Assume a car accident with only property damage resulting in which both parties are found to be 50% at fault.
The Illinois Department of Insurance website contains the following statement regarding comparative negligence in a traffic accident:
“Illinois has adopted modified comparative negligence (735 ILCS 5/2-1116) as the standard for recovery of damages. Under modified comparative negligence, an injured party may recover damages only if he/she is less than 50% at fault for the injury or damages.”
In other words, parsing this statement as written, if a driver is 50% at fault, they cannot recover damages.
However, my nonprofessional reading of the statute cited above (735 ILCS 5/2-1116) indicates that a driver who is 50% at fault may still recover damages, reduced in proportion to their negligence. A driver is only prevented from recovering any damages if found to be more than 50% at fault.
Is the statement from the Illinois Department of Insurance website incorrect?
What leads you to the conclusion that “an injured party may recover damages only if he/she is less than 50% at fault for the injury or damages.”, means “A driver is only prevented from recovering any damages if found to be more than 50% at fault.”
IANALawyer either, but as a matter of simple English you are absolutely wrong. If the second statement said, “… if found to be 50% or more at fault”, you would be correct.
It is a little lengthy, so I didn’t want to potentially run afoul of any board rules by cutting and pasting it, and I didn’t want to possibly omit a relevant portion by just quoting what I thought was relevant.
If this is regarding a real incident that happened to you, ask your claim adjuster what might happen if you are judged to be exactly 50% at fault. If it’s just a hypothetical exercise, you should talk to a claim adjuster or a personal injury lawyer who is licensed in the state of Illinois. You might be able to call your insurance company and just ask to speak to “any adjuster.” An attorney might charge a consulting fee, although it seems a simple enough question.
I know we have a couple adjusters (and several attorneys) around here, but I don’t know if any of them are licensed in Illinois. I work in the claims department of an insurance company, but I don’t adjust them. And I know enough to know that I wouldn’t be able to answer your question, much less a layperson. Don’t trust any answer you get from anyone unless they’re qualified!
Again, I’m not a lawyer and have no particular expertise to evaluate your claim, but based on this from your link to the statute
I agree with your interpretation based on plain language, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything in the real world.
FYI for your future posts, governmental rules and regs and laws are not copyrighted and you can post them without worrying about infringing on somebody else’s intellectual property.