Legal Question in Personal Injury in Illinois

Re: customer injury

Insurance is not mandatory! People therefore buy insurance to protect a risk. If you have no assets which could be taken with a judgment, you have little incentive to buy insurance.

In our society, responsibility is becoming a thing of the past! If you broke a window as a kid, you would be expected to pay for it. The typical business response today would be that they didn't break the window, if they did, it wasn't worth as much as you say it was, or that the window would have broken at some time anyway, and therefore they are not responsible.

The real question you have is how can you recover your damages? Only if the business owner has assets would you be able to do so. Given the large number of victims, you should proceed quickly if you intend to secure his assets. I am doubtful, however, that someone who did not buy insurance would have much in the way of assets either.

Re: customer injury

Please call our office at 1(800)322-0359 to discuss this matter further.

Re: customer injury

Like many questions related to government regulation of business, you ask why there isn�t a law requiring all businesses to have general liability insurance. This isn�t actually a legal question but an economic one or political one.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau�s Statistical Abstract of the United States for 2001, there were 4,849,000 business corporations, 1,855,000 business partnerships, and 17,409,000 non-farm business proprietorships across the country. More than eighty-five percent have 20 or fewer employees. For many of these businesses, insurance is simply not affordable or it is only affordable if other expenses are cut (such as payroll)or prices are raised.

There are some types of insurance which may be required of a business (e.g., auto, unemployment insurance, worker�s comp, specialized insurance for particular industries, etc.). Once we decide that businesses must also have general liability insurance, we have to regulate the types, the amounts, the elements of proving insurance.

And how about the at-home businesses, cottage industries, and single person businesses � should they be required to carry general liability insurance? And since we�re doing that, why not require businesses to have health insurance for their employees? . . . and their employees� families? What about terrorism insurance? How about disaster insurance? And why stop at businesses? There�s no limit to the harm which might be caused by the negligent act of individual persons � shouldn�t all people be required to carry general liability insurance to protect others? Why not?

And doesn�t mandatory general liability insurance penalize the businesses who are extra careful to prevent harm to others so that general liability insurance is a complete waste? And how about the businesses that present no foreseeable risk to third persons because of the nature of their industry? Who will decide these questions for the nation�s twenty+ million businesses?

The point is that there are many many good ideas which cost money. It�s easy for A to say that B should do such and such, but these things are not free. Liability insurance costs money. Some companies have it, some don�t. Mandatory general liability insurance would result in higher prices, job losses, or other dislocations to the national economy. And if it�s a sufficiently good idea to mandate it, why hasn�t a single state done so? So far, as a society, we have chosen (through our lawmakers) not to require all of the millions of businesses to purchase the insurance you suggest.

This answer may not be satisfactory, but your question isn't one for a lawyer. Better you should send it to your governmental and legislative representatives for their response.