Will a DUI Affect Your Car Insurance in Illinois?

Getting charged with driving under the influence (DUI) can turn your life upside down in more ways than one. First, you have the initial arrest and a statutory summary suspension. If you don’t act fast, you could be stuck without your driver’s license for at least six months, and potentially more if it’s not your first offense.

Then, you have the stress of the criminal case, with the potential penalties of fines and even jail time. A conviction will also mean your license is revoked. If it’s your first DUI, you can apply for a license reinstatement after one year, but it’s a lengthy and stressful process involving proving you do not pose a threat to other drivers on the road. But, assuming you keep your license valid or get your license reinstated, there’s another way a DUI can affect you over the long term.

A DUI conviction can massively affect your car insurance premiums — and the financial impact is more severe than many drivers realize. A DUI typically triggers dramatic insurance rate hikes that can cost you thousands of dollars over several years.

Illinois’ most trusted DUI attorneys explain what drivers need to know about how a DUI affects car insurance, how long for, and the steps you should take.

Why Does a DUI Cause a Car Insurance Hike?

Before we get into just how much of an impact a DUI can have on your finances, it’s worth digging into the reason why.

When you have a DUI, insurance companies will view you as a high-risk driver. You might not even have crashed your car or caused any damage, but insurers won’t see it that way. If you have a history of engaging in specific behavior, others will judge you for it.

Let’s consider an everyday example that could happen to anyone.

Years ago, your friend loaned you one of their most prized possessions. Unfortunately, you didn’t treat it carefully, and it was ruined when you returned it to them. You made up, and now, years later, you ask that same friend if you can borrow something else from them. The trouble is, someone else has asked to borrow the same thing. Now, your friend has a decision to make: can they trust you, and should they take that risk?

The same can be said for insurance companies. But in this case, you can take that scrutiny and amplify it by 10. Ultimately, insurers are in the business of making money, and they lose a big chunk when they pay out on claims.

You don’t even need to have been in an accident or caused property damage or injury for your rates to increase. A DUI is against the law, so if they see it on your record, it’s an automatic red flag. Insurers might perceive you as being indifferent or outright not caring about the law, which, in their view, might make you more likely to do it again. Only next time, you might crash into someone who needs surgery for their injuries. To cover their growing medical expenses, they are within their rights to file a car accident claim against your insurance company.

This is a hypothetical situation, but the reality is that this happens every day. It could be your first DUI. You might have even been pulled over unlawfully, but that doesn’t matter to insurers. They are always looking at the worst possible outcome. If there’s any chance that they might be on the hook for paying out a claim worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, they want to recoup that loss. The easiest way for them to do that is to increase your insurance premiums.

Understanding Illinois’ SR-22 Requirement

Illinois drivers must meet an additional requirement after a DUI conviction: maintaining SR-22 insurance. SR-22 isn’t strictly insurance — it’s a certificate that proves you have the minimum liability insurance required by the law.

Getting SR-22 forms part of the requirements for getting your license reinstated after a DUI. Notably, you must maintain SR-22 for three years after your license reinstatement.

So, if it’s your first DUI conviction, you must wait one year before you are even eligible to apply for a license reinstatement. Then, you must go through the reinstatement process and attend a hearing. After all of this, if the Illinois Secretary of State determines you can get your license back, you must maintain SR-22 insurance for a further three years.

The filing fee for getting SR-22 won’t break the bank — it typically ranges from $15 to $50. However, insurance companies typically charge higher premiums if you require SR-22 because it indicates that you may be a risky driver.

How Much Will Your Insurance Go Up?

It’s impossible to say how much your insurance costs will increase after a DUI. Policies vary by insurance company, and there are multiple factors to consider. For example, a motorist who’s been driving for 20 years and has never received a speeding ticket will get more favorable rates than a younger driver with a history of traffic tickets. Each insurance company will also use different formulas and calculations for assessing risk, making it difficult to establish a baseline.

Data from Insurance.com shows an average annual rate of $1,303 for driving without a DUI. The breakdown by insurer looks like this:

Across all insurers, the average annual rate after a DUI is $1,968 — an increase of 51%. However, as the table above shows, drivers might see their premiums more than double.

A report from The Zebra paints a slightly different story. Unfortunately, this data does not state the insurance premium for a driver who does not have a DUI. However, we can see the annual rate after a DUI:

The Zebra requested quotes from a different set of insurers, but some overlap allows for a like-for-like comparison. And as we can see, the numbers vary.

For example, Insurance.com puts Progressive as the cheapest provider for Illinois drivers with a DUI ($1,728). But data from The Zebra shows that drivers can expect to pay $1,909.

Interestingly, The Zebra cites State Farm as offering the most favorable insurance rates after a DUI — $1,626. But according to Insurance.com, drivers can expect to pay more than this even if they have a clean record ($1,633).

The main takeaway? Breakdowns like these should be taken with a grain of salt. Far too many factors go into calculating insurance costs to provide an accurate estimate. The one thing you can count on, though, is that you will pay more.

Your Insurance Costs Might Go Up Even If You’re Not Convicted

One important fact to know when facing a DUI is that your insurance might increase even if you don’t get a conviction. In fact, this can happen with multiple types of tickets.

One of our clients was involved in a bad traffic accident in the suburbs outside of Chicago. It involved multiple vehicles and caused some minor injuries. Our client was cited with “Failure To Reduce Speed To Avoid An Accident.” 

We attended multiple court dates and eventually got the ticket dismissed. As a result, nothing appeared on his driving record, he had no points on his license, and he did not owe any fines or fees to the court.

However, a few months later, he received a letter from his insurance company stating that his yearly premium was increasing by over $700 per year. 

Understandably, he was upset and wanted to know why.

The answer comes back to how insurance companies assess risk.

In our client’s case, the insurance company didn’t increase his premium because of the ticket itself — it was dismissed, so they had no way of knowing about it. But what happened is that the insurance company had to pay out claims filed by other drivers to cover their medical bills and get their vehicles repaired.

To recoup that loss, the insurance company determined who was the “at fault” driver — in this case, our client — and increased their premiums.

This is an important consideration to be aware of. If you get charged with a DUI after an accident and you hire our Chicago traffic attorneys to help you, we can get you the best possible outcome. This might be going to court and securing a not-guilty verdict, negotiating court supervision to avoid a conviction, or getting the charge dismissed.

But if your insurance company has to pay out claims to cover other driver’s losses, it can still impact your insurance.

How Long Does a DUI Affect Your Insurance?

While Illinois law requires drivers to maintain SR-22 for three years after reinstatement, a DUI can impact your insurance rates for much longer. You can expect a significant rate increase for around five years, but some companies apply surcharges for seven years or longer.  

This period can vary based on your individual policy, your insurance company, and whether you have a previous DUI conviction. You can expect a more significant insurance premium increase over a longer period if you have multiple convictions, as insurers often view prior offenses as a sign of risk. Some insurers may even refuse coverage.

What to Do If You’re Facing DUI Charges

If you’re currently facing DUI charges, your choices now can significantly impact your insurance consequences later.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that your outcome won’t affect your insurance coverage — it might be out of our hands. What we can do, though, is focus on getting you the best result from a legal perspective.

A DUI is a serious charge with hefty consequences, including fines, court fees, and potential jail time. A criminal record can also have long-lasting implications on your career, education, and ability to travel.

Every case is unique, and we know your priorities might be different from another driver’s. That’s why we tailor our representation to get the right outcome for you.

Your Next Steps

If you’re facing DUI charges anywhere in the Chicago area, don’t wait to get legal help. The sooner you contact an experienced Illinois DUI attorney, the more equipped we’ll be to develop a strong defense.

Contact Driver Defense Team today to discuss your case and learn about your options. We’ll provide personalized legal advice based on your specific situation and work to achieve the best possible outcome. Our team-based approach means you benefit from over 130 years of combined experience. We’ve analyzed thousands of cases and developed proven strategies for minimizing the criminal penalties and collateral consequences like insurance rate increases.

You can call, text, submit an online form, or visit our offices in Chicago, DuPage County, or Cook County. Let Illinois’ top driving attorney team develop a custom GamePlan to get you the right result.

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