my car was at a stop light, car #1 hit car #2 and car #2 hit my car.

The trouble with that scenario is that car #2 was more than likely an innocent bystander. Unless you can assess some degree of fault to car #2, you won't be able to make any claim stick.

What justification did the insurance company give for denying your claim?

Can you, sure.

The problem is, however, that it's unlikely (albeit not impossible) that car 2 has any liability, which means you wouldn't win your lawsuit.

Disclaimer: This answer is provided as a public service and as a general response to a general question, it is not meant, and should not be relied upon as specific legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship.

As I am licensed in Florida and Vermont, I cannot comment specifically on Illinois law. However, generally, it is unfortunate that you did not tell us why your insurance company is denying coverage.This aspect of your potential claim should be reviewed by a personal injury attorney and I strongly suggest you seek counsel as soon as possible.

There may be a different answer depending if your son was injured. In an injury situation, your insurance should cover him under your uninsured motorist coverage (which is mandatory in Illinois). If we are only talking about property damage to your car - the answer may depend on whether you had propert;y damage coverage for your vehicle. If you had liability only, you may not be able make a claim against your own insurance. If you had property damage coverage, you may be able to recover from your company for the damage. Of course, there could be an exclusion if he was not a covered driver. If there is truly no hope of recovering from your insurance company, you have a possible case against dirver number 2, but only if he did something that was negligent. If he/she was completely stopped at the light before getting hit from behind, then there's not much hope of recovering from him/her.

Mr. Parker's answer is the only one that is clearly right under Illinois law of the four I read.

If there was injury involved, virtually all auto policies underwritten in Illinois have "hit and run" uninsured motorist coverage. This almost always requires prompt (within 24 hours) reportage to local police, contact between the hit and run vehicle and the one being driven by the victim, liability and damages proximately caused by the crash. Obviously enough, there was contact between the hit and run driver and your car. But we don't know about any of the other factors.

Given the sketchy facts you have given us, it is impossible to know whether you might have an uninsured motorist claim for injuries.

You might have uninsured motorist property damage coverage that would cover you in the event of a loss iwth a hit and run driver. This kind of insurance is not typically sold in Illinois, but you need to read your policy to see if you have it. A good insurance agent can tell you in a couple of moments whether you have this kind of coverage. Call him or her to find out.

If all else fails, your collision coverage should be picking up damage done in the loss. If your carrier refuses to pay the loss, make a complaint at the Deparatment of Insurance. An investigation will be conducted. You should hire an attorney to sue your insurance carrier for you under Section 155 of the Illinois Insurance Code if there has been a bad faith insurance practice. Run all of the facts past an attorney in a full consultation to get his read as to whether this sort of thing has taken place.

Good luck to you.

Donald Nathan
www.donaldnathanlaw.com