DUI Car Insurance in Illinois After Drunk Driving Conviction

Reader’s Question:

My cousin told me that he has a big problem about his car insurance rates because of his DUI conviction in Skokie, Illinois. Is it true that it will be largely affected because of his drunk driving conviction?

Malcolm

Skokie, IL

Your cousin’s drunk driving conviction in Skokie, Illinois could bring many negative consequences into his life. Aside from the legal consequences such as possible jail time, fines and a criminal record, he would also have higher insurance premiums. If he is currently insured, his car insurance provider would, of course, respond to this circumstance. What his car insurance company can exactly legally do would vary but his car insurance company may cancel or decline to renew his policy, restrict coverage provisions or, at a minimum, increase his premiums.

Although the amount of increase could greatly vary, his premiums could go up as much as 100 percent or more. How his car insurance provider reacts to his DUI could be worse if he has other strikes against him, such as traffic tickets, previous drunk driving convictions, late or unpaid insurance premiums, at-fault accidents or other negative history with the insurance company. He can obviously get free online rate quotes from various car insurance companies such as the ones available from this website.

What Are The Possible DUI Penalties in Illinois

Reader’s Question:

A friend of mine was arrested for DUI in Skokie, Illinois for the first time and from what I know, they have a strong case against him. Could you please educate me on what he could be facing because of his DUI charge, what are the penalties involved?

Aldrin

Skokie, IL

After your friend was arrested for DUI in Skokie, Illinois, he would be facing two different cases; one is an administrative driver’s license suspension that starts automatically, unless appealed and the other one is on the court system. He would need to request for a DMV hearing which should be done quickly after the DUI arrest so that he can be able to appeal against the suspension of his driver’s license. He would also have to make sure that he hires a qualified DUI lawyer to help him with his appeal to ensure that it is received in time and that all of the necessary paperworks are filled in correctly.

If he tries to do all of these by himself, he is risking making a serious mistake and losing his without the chance for appeal. Aside from that, if convicted for DUI, he would have penalties that are truly unacceptable. Since this is his first DUI offense, it would be considered as Class A misdemeanor charge. If he gets convicted, he can expect to have consequences such as fines of up to $2,500, jail time of up to 364 days, potential Victim Impact Program requirement, alcohol evaluation with potential counselling, potential community service and any other consequence deemed necessary by the judge.

Possible Illinois DUI Defenses?

Reader’s Question:

My cousin is thinking about getting a DUI lawyer to help him on his DUI charge in Illinois. What are the possible defenses that he can use on his DUI case?

Floyd

Skokie, IL

There are a lot of challenges and defenses that your cousin could use on his DUI case in Illinois. So let’s start with the challenges to the DUI stop. First of all, he can use as a defense that the officer didn’t have a valid reason to pull your cousin over or no police officer actually saw your cousin driving. Another defense is with regard to the challenges on probable cause to arrest your cousin if the officer didn’t have enough reason to arrest and if the officer didn’t use proper technique and graded him unfairly.

Next are the motions to suppress evidence like if the Miranda Fifth Amendment rights were violated and if your cousin was not warned of his implied consent rights. Evidence can also be suppressed if the police officer searched the vehicle illegally and coerced your cousin into performing field sobriety tests. The police officer could have manufactured the evidence and a good DUI lawyer can definitely find out about it.