What a Chicago, IL truck accident claim can pay
Nobody can give you a number on day one. This page shows what a claim is made of, what can shrink it, and who pays.
Available 24/7. Free, confidential, no obligation. We come to the hospital or your home.
Losses with receipts
- Medical bills so far
- Future care
- Lost pay
- Lost earning capacity
- Vehicle and property
Losses without receipts
- Pain and suffering
- Disability and loss of a normal life
- Disfigurement
TotalSet by the evidence. Illinois law sets no cap.
Three kinds of money make up a claim.
Illinois law calls them damages. 2 kinds are compensatory damages: money that repays what the crash took from you. The third is rare, and exists to punish.
Economic damages
With receipts
- Medical bills
- Future care
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Property
Non-economic damages
Without receipts
- Pain and suffering
- Disability
- Loss of a normal life
- Disfigurement
- Loss of consortium
Compensatory damages. Both kinds repay what the crash took from you.
Punitive damages
Not one of your losses
Punishment for willful or reckless conduct. Rare, and only if a judge allows it before trial.
Economic damages
The losses with receipts
Economic damages repay anything the crash cost you that can be shown with a bill, a pay stub or an expert's calculation.
- Medical bills
- The ambulance, the emergency room, surgery, the hospital stay, rehab and medication, from the day of the crash.
- Future care
- The treatment, equipment and help at home you are reasonably certain to need later. A life care planner prices it.
- Lost wages
- The pay and benefits you missed while you could not work.
- Lost earning capacity
- What the injury takes from the working years ahead, if you cannot go back to the same job or the same hours.
- Property
- Your vehicle, and what was inside it.
Non-economic damages
The losses without receipts
Non-economic damages pay for the human losses. Nobody sends a bill for these. An Illinois jury is instructed on each one as its own part of the award.
- Pain and suffering
- The pain you have been through, and the pain still to come.
- Disability
- What your body can no longer do, for a season or for good.
- Loss of a normal life
- A reduced ability to enjoy life: the work, the sport and the time with your family that the injury took.
- Disfigurement
- Scars, burns, an amputation, and any lasting change to how you look.
- Loss of consortium
- A claim your husband or wife can bring for the companionship the injury took from your marriage.
Punitive damages
Rare, and not about your losses
They punish a defendant, the person or company you are claiming against, and warn others. They do not measure what you lost.
Ordinary negligence, the legal word for a failure to take reasonable care, is not enough. Illinois allows punitive damages only for willful conduct, or for negligence so gross that it shows a wanton disregard for other people's safety. In a truck case that could be a carrier that falsified its logs, or kept a driver on the road after failed tests.
You cannot ask for them in the first complaint. Your lawyer has to bring a motion before trial, and a judge has to find a reasonable likelihood that the facts at trial will support them. 735 ILCS 5/2-604.1.
They are the exception. We tell you early whether the evidence in your case points that way.
No lawyer can promise you an amount. We give you a range once we have the evidence, not before.
What can shrink a claim.
The insurer's job is to pay less. It has 5 arguments it reaches for first. Most of them can be closed off in the first weeks.
Your share of the fault
Illinois uses modified comparative negligence, the rule that divides the fault for a crash between you and the other side. If you were 50% or less at fault, you can still recover, and the award is reduced by your share. Above 50%, you recover nothing. 735 ILCS 5/2-1116.
So 1 percentage point can be the whole claim. An insurer that moves you from 50% to 51% pays nothing.
In a lawsuit you are the plaintiff, the person bringing the claim. The burden of proof is yours: you must show the defendant's negligence by a preponderance of the evidence, which means more probably true than not.
Any fault the defendant puts on you, the defendant has to prove. That is what the dashcam footage, the driver's logs and the truck's data recorder are for.
Move the marker to see the rule work on an example figure.
- Example award
- $100,000
- Taken off
- $20,000
- You receive
- $80,000
At 20% fault, the $100,000 example becomes $80,000.
| Your share of the fault | You receive |
|---|---|
| 0% | $100,000 |
| 20% | $80,000 |
| 50% | $50,000 |
| 51% | $0 |
A gap in treatment
Weeks without a doctor's visit let the insurer argue that you had recovered, or that something else caused the pain. Keep every appointment. If you have to miss one, rebook it the same day.
A recorded statement
The adjuster may call within a day, friendly and in a hurry. You do not have to give a statement. A guess about speed or distance, or a polite “I'm fine”, can be played back later as proof. Say “Please call my lawyer” and nothing else.
A release signed too early
A settlement is an agreement that ends the claim for a fixed amount. A first offer can arrive before anyone knows what your treatment will cost. Once you sign the release, the claim is over, even if you need another surgery. Sign nothing and cash no check until a lawyer has read it.
A missed deadline
The statute of limitations, the legal deadline to file a lawsuit, is 2 years from the crash for an injury claim in Illinois (735 ILCS 5/13-202). If a city, county or CTA vehicle played a part, you have 1 year (745 ILCS 10/8-101; for the CTA, 70 ILCS 3605/41). After the date passes, the claim pays nothing, however strong it was.
Where the money comes from.
A claim is only worth what can be collected. Federal law puts a floor under the insurance on a commercial truck. Above that floor there can be more policies, and more companies, to look to.
The federal minimum is a floor. It is not the value of your claim, and it is not a promise of what you receive. It tells you the least that must be there.
Every policy has policy limits: the most that insurer will pay on one claim. A claim larger than the limits has to look to the next policy, or the next company.
More than one company can carry liability, the legal responsibility to pay, for the same crash: the carrier that employed the driver, the broker that hired the carrier, the shipper that loaded the trailer, the shop that serviced the brakes. Each one that shares the fault brings its own insurer.
Why the other companies matter
Illinois calls the rule joint and several liability: one defendant can be made to pay more than its own share. Every defendant found liable is responsible for all of your past and future medical expenses. A defendant found 25% or more at fault can be made to pay all of the other damages too. 735 ILCS 5/2-1117.
The carrier's primary policy
Required by federal law. It covers the driver and the trucking company, and the minimum depends on what the truck was hauling.
- General freight Trucks of 10,001 lb or more hauling ordinary freight for hire between states.
- $750,000
- Oil and listed hazardous materials Fuel tankers and most other hazardous loads.
- $1,000,000
- The most dangerous cargo Bulk explosives, poison gas, large tanks of hazardous substances, some radioactive loads.
- $5,000,000
An excess or umbrella policy
Extra cover some carriers buy. It sits on top of the primary policy and pays once that policy is used up. You only learn it exists by demanding every policy in writing.
Other companies, each with its own insurer
If the evidence shows another company shared the fault, its policy stands beside the carrier's.
- Freight brokerChose and hired the carrier.
- Shipper or loaderPacked and secured the load.
- Maintenance contractorServiced the brakes and tires.
No fee unless we win, in plain terms.
You pay nothing to start and nothing while the case runs. Our contingency fee, a fee owed only if we recover money for you, is 40% of the recovery.
$0
up front, and $0 if there is no recovery.
40%
of the recovery, if there is one.
We advance the costs of the case, and they are repaid from the recovery. The same terms are in the agreement you read and sign. We go through it with you line by line.
- Up front
- Nothing. The case review is free, and we advance the costs of the case.
- If there is no recovery
- No fee. You owe us nothing.
- If there is a recovery
- Our fee is 40% of it. The case costs we advanced are repaid from it.
- In writing
- Illinois requires a contingency fee agreement to be in writing and signed by you. It must state the percentage, the expenses that come out of the recovery, and whether they come out before or after the fee is worked out.
- At the end
- You receive a written statement showing the result, the fee, the expenses and the amount paid to you.
The recovery$100,000The settlement or the verdict, paid by the insurers.
Our fee
$40,000
40% of the recovery. If there is no recovery, there is no fee.
Case costs
Varies
Court filing fees, records and expert witnesses. We advance them while the case runs, and they are repaid from the recovery.
Liens and repayments
Varies
A lien is a legal right to be repaid out of your recovery. A hospital or doctor who treated you can hold one. Your health insurer can have a similar right, called subrogation. Illinois limits health care liens to 40% of the recovery in total (770 ILCS 23/10). When liens reach that limit, the Health Care Services Lien Act holds the attorney’s own lien to 30% of the settlement or verdict, unless the case is appealed. That limit is separate from our 40% contingency fee. How medical bills are paid
You
What remains
Everything that is left. For a physical injury, federal law generally does not tax it as income. How a settlement is taxed is a question for a tax adviser.
Each part of a claim, in detail.
One guide for each kind of loss, and 2 tools. The medical bills guide is ready. The rest are being written.
- GuideMedical bills and who pays themWho pays today, who is repaid later, and how liens work in Illinois.
- ToolDeadline checkerEnter the crash date and see the dates that apply to your claim.
Want a rough range before you call?
The case value estimator takes your medical bills, your lost pay, how serious the injury is and how the fault is shared. It shows how each one moves a claim. It gives a range, never a promise.
More guides in progress: lost wages and earning capacity, pain and suffering, future care and life care plans, wrongful death damages, property damage and rental, punitive damages.
Questions people ask about the money.
How much is my truck accident claim worth?
It depends on your injuries, the care you will need, the pay you have lost, the insurance available and how the fault is shared. Nobody can give you an honest number in the first week. We give you a range once we have your medical records and the evidence from the truck. Until then, the case value estimator shows the factors that move a claim up or down.
Is there a cap on truck accident damages in Illinois?
No. Illinois has no cap on what a jury can award for your losses in an injury case. The Illinois Supreme Court has struck down damage caps as unconstitutional, most recently in Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in 2010. A jury sets the amount from the evidence.
The insurer has made an offer. Should I take it?
Not before you know what your treatment will cost. An offer made in the first weeks cannot account for surgery, rehab or time off work that nobody has measured yet. Once you sign a release, the claim is closed for good. Have a lawyer read the offer first. Our review is free.
Will I pay tax on a settlement?
Under federal law, compensation for a physical injury is generally not taxed as income, and that includes the part that replaces lost wages. Punitive damages are taxable. Ask a tax professional about your own situation.
Who pays my medical bills while the claim is open?
The trucking company's insurer generally pays once, at the end, not bill by bill. Until then the bills go to your health insurance, your own auto medical cover or the provider. Some of them can ask to be repaid from the recovery. Our medical bills guide explains who is paid back, and how Illinois limits it.
What do I owe if the case is lost?
Nothing. Our contingency fee is 40% of the recovery, so if there is no recovery there is no fee. We advance the costs of the case. If there is no recovery, you owe us nothing.
1What the crash took
Your economic and non-economic damages, each one proved.
2Less your share of the fault
Nothing comes off at 0%. Above 50%, everything does.
3Within what can be collected
The dashed outline is the insurance: the policy limits of every company that shares the liability.
Next step: tell us what happened. We tell you which of these losses apply to you, which insurers are involved, and what we would do first. The review is free.
Sources
- Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5/2-1116 (modified comparative negligence: no recovery above 50% of the fault)
- Illinois Supreme Court, Casey v. Baseden, 111 Ill. 2d 341 (1986) (the defendant must prove the plaintiff's share of the fault)
- Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Civil, 21.01 (burden of proof: more probably true than not true), the 30.00 series (elements of damages) and 32.04 (loss of consortium)
- Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5/2-604.1 (punitive damages may be sought only by pretrial motion)
- Illinois Supreme Court, Loitz v. Remington Arms Co., 138 Ill. 2d 404 (1990) (when punitive damages may be awarded)
- Illinois Supreme Court, Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, 237 Ill. 2d 217 (2010), and Best v. Taylor Machine Works, 179 Ill. 2d 367 (1997) (caps on damages held unconstitutional)
- Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180/2 (damages for the surviving spouse and next of kin; 2-year deadline)
- Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5/2-1117 (joint and several liability)
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 CFR 387.9 (minimum levels of financial responsibility for motor carriers)
- Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5/13-202 (statute of limitations for personal injury: 2 years)
- Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, 745 ILCS 10/8-101 (1-year deadline for claims against a local public entity)
- Metropolitan Transit Authority Act, 70 ILCS 3605/41 (1-year deadline for injury claims against the Chicago Transit Authority)
- Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct of 2010, Rule 1.5(c) (a contingent fee agreement must be in writing and signed by the client)
- Illinois Health Care Services Lien Act, 770 ILCS 23/10 (health care liens limited to 40% of the recovery in total)
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2) (damages for physical injury are excluded from income), and Internal Revenue Service, Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments
Tell us what happened. We will tell you what happens next.
Call, or send the form. A lawyer, not an intake service, calls you back within the hour. Free, confidential, no obligation.
No fee unless we winWe come to youAvailable 24/7
- NowYou call or send the form.
- Within the hourA lawyer calls you back.
- The day you retain usThe preservation letter goes out.