House Bill 4767: Cracking Down on Car Insurance Hikes

On February 5, 2024, Illinois Representative Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) filed House Bill 4767, known as the Motor Vehicle Insurance Fairness Act. The Bill continued to make its way through the House, and it was re-referred to the House Rules Committee in early April.1 

The ultimate goal of the new Bill is to improve the Illinois Department of Insurance’s ability to oversee insurance rate modifications. If the Bill were to be signed into law, car insurance companies in Illinois would have to face scrutiny and regulations imposed by the Department of Insurance if those companies were to propose increased rates in the future. The Illinois Secretary of State, Alexi Giannoulias, has even openly voiced his support for the Bill.2 

By the Numbers 

According to research conducted by the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, the past two years in Illinois have included some major increases in insurance rates. See below: 

• 2022: Increase of $1 billion 
• 2023: Increase of $1.259 billion 

There are no signs that these increases will halt or even slow down, as both State Farm and Allstate, the two primary contributors to the rate hikes, have both announced their plans to also increase homeowners’ insurance rates this year.

State Farm and Allstate account for 40% of the Illinois car insurance market.3 The Illinois Coalition for Fair Car Insurance Rates may be the biggest advocate for a Bill that enables regulators to have more of a say over what insurers can charge consumers.  

The Bill’s Other Purpose 

Rep. Will Guzzardi also argued that the Bill creates measures to combat the issue of insurance companies discriminating against Illinois consumers. Guzzardi recently stated, “When you use factors like credit score, employment history, homeownership, and ZIP code, these factors are smuggling in histories of discrimination.

Decades, centuries, legacies of discrimination.” Guzzardi acknowledges that insurance companies will say they can’t use race in setting rates, but identifying the factors above enables them to do so anyway.4 

Will the Bill Pass? 

It remains to be seen whether House Bill 4767 will eventually be signed into law. As it stands, there are three Co-Sponsors on the Bill, including Rep. Lilian Jimenez, Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy, and Rep. Kam Buckner.

A similar bill did fail to leave the Illinois House of Representatives last year, which was also sponsored by Chicago’s very own Rep. Will Guzzardi, but there is nonetheless a chance this Bill reaches Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk by year’s end.