Illinois drivers have 5 years to file a diminished value claim.

Check your Illinois filing deadline

Enter the date of your accident below. We'll show your exact 5-year statute-of-limitations deadline and how many days remain.

Illinois diminished value claim facts

Statute citation: 735 ILCS 5/13-205 (5-year SOL for damage to personal property)

Why this matters in Illinois

Illinois is a fault-based auto-insurance state with one of the longest property-damage statutes of limitations in the country — five years from the date of loss under 735 ILCS 5/13-205. Third-party diminished value claims against the at-fault driver's liability carrier are recognized under common-law tort principles. The measure of property damage in Illinois is the difference between pre-loss fair market value and post-repair fair market value, plus the cost of repair where the repair does not fully restore the vehicle. First-party DV under standard collision coverage is more restricted; the typical Illinois collision policy obligates the carrier to repair, and DV is not separately recoverable as a first-party claim absent an explicit policy provision. Illinois courts have not produced a Mabry-equivalent first-party DV case, but the absence of an explicit prohibition means policy-language interpretation is the controlling framework. The 5-year SOL gives Illinois drivers more leverage in protracted negotiations than drivers in 2-year SOL states like Texas or Arizona. That said, do not let the clock run past 36 months without a written demand on file — fading documentation, witness recall, and parts-availability records become harder to assemble over time. Uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory in Illinois (215 ILCS 5/143a) with minimum limits set by statute. UM/UIM is first-party in nature; whether DV is recoverable under UM/UIM depends on the specific policy language and the carrier's interpretation of "all sums" the at-fault driver would have been legally responsible for. For total-loss determinations, Illinois does not impose a statutory percentage threshold. Carriers apply the Total Loss Formula (repair + salvage ≥ ACV) or an internal 70-75% rule. Salvage-title rules under 625 ILCS 5/3-117.1 attach after the determination. The ACV negotiation can pull borderline vehicles out of the total-loss column with a strong independent valuation. The Illinois Department of Insurance (idoi.illinois.gov) accepts consumer complaints — Illinois has a comparatively active complaint process and tracks carrier-specific complaint ratios that are publicly searchable. The Illinois Small Claims Court hears cases up to $10,000 — workable for most DV claims. For amounts above $10,000, file in the Circuit Court (no upper limit). Illinois's Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (815 ILCS 505/) can apply to insurance practices in some contexts — preserve denial communications and consult an Illinois property-damage attorney if the carrier's denial appears in bad faith. Section 155 of the Illinois Insurance Code (215 ILCS 5/155) provides for vexatious-and-unreasonable-delay damages including attorney's fees and costs in extreme cases.

States with similar filing deadlines