Auto insurance carriers must pay uninsured motorist benefits to insureds who are injured by motor vehicles while walking or bicycling, even if their policies explicitly provide coverage only to occupants of insured automobiles, an Illinois Appellate Court panel ruled.
The panel said in an opinion released Friday that Illinois case law and public policy demand that Direct Auto Insurance Co. pay a claim filed by the father of Cristopher Guiracocha, who was 14 when he was injured in a hit-and-run accident while riding his bicycle on Sept. 24, 2020.
