Verified 625 ILCS 5/3-707 · Checked July 2026 · 4 sources

What a no-insurance ticket costs in Illinois

Citation data · First offense 625 ILCS 5/3-707

$100 and court supervision if insured by your court date, otherwise a fine over $500

Driving uninsured in Illinois is a petty offense under 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c), and a conviction carries a fine in excess of $500 but not more than $1,000, plus an automatic 3 month driver's license suspension and a $100 reinstatement fee under 3-707(c-1). Two statutory exits usually decide the case before it ever gets that far. First, 3-707(c) states that no person charged shall be convicted if they produce in court satisfactory evidence that the vehicle was covered by a liability policy at the time of the arrest, so a driver who was actually insured and simply could not show the card beats the charge outright. Second, 3-707(c-5) says a driver with no prior conviction and no prior court supervision under this Section who produces at the court appearance evidence that the vehicle is covered as of that date shall pay a fine of $100 and receive a disposition of court supervision, which is not a conviction and therefore does not trigger the (c-1) suspension.

Verified July 2026

By Mario Bailey

What to do now

1

Confirm whether the vehicle was actually insured on the date of the stop

Pull the policy declarations page or get a letter from your carrier showing coverage was in force on the arrest date. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c), that evidence bars conviction entirely. This one fact decides most of these tickets, because 3-707(b) turns a missing insurance card into an uninsured-driving charge even for insured drivers.
2

If you were genuinely uninsured, buy a policy before your court date

625 ILCS 5/3-707(c-5) requires proof at the court appearance that the vehicle is covered as of that date, and it is available only if you have no prior conviction and no prior court supervision under this Section. Meeting it converts a fine over $500 plus a 3 month suspension into a $100 fine and court supervision.
3

Appear in court with the documents rather than paying by mail

Paying the ticket is a guilty plea, and a conviction automatically triggers the 3 month suspension and $100 reinstatement fee in 3-707(c-1). The chief judge of each circuit may designate an officer of the court to review insurance documentation under (c) and (c-5), so producing the paperwork, not arguing, is what resolves it.
4

Keep the policy in force for the entire supervision period

3-707(c-5) requires you to produce, on the date supervision is scheduled to terminate, satisfactory evidence that the vehicle was covered by the required liability policy during the whole period of court supervision. A lapse mid-supervision undoes the benefit you took supervision to get.

Insurance impact: The Illinois Vehicle Code sets no statutory insurance surcharge for this offense, so any premium increase after a conviction is your carrier's pricing decision, not a penalty imposed by the statute. What the Code does mandate is the coverage itself: 625 ILCS 5/7-601(a) bars anyone from operating, registering, or maintaining registration of a vehicle unless it is covered by a liability policy in amounts no less than the minimums set under Section 7-203. Note also that 3-707(b) treats failing to display proof of insurance on an officer's request as operating uninsured, so keeping current proof in the car matters as much as keeping the policy.

Second conviction stays over $500 to $1,000. Third or subsequent is a $1,000 business offense. Repeat offense

3 month license suspension plus $100 reinstatement fee License / registration

Note: amounts vary The fine amount varies by judge and county. 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c) fixes only the band (in excess of $500, not more than $1,000) and leaves the exact number to the court, and county court costs and fees are added on top and are not set by this statute. The $100 supervision fine in (c-5) and the $100 reinstatement fee in (c-1) are fixed by statute and do not vary., the figures above are the statutory frame, not a quote.

Repeat offenses

A second conviction remains in the 3-707(c) petty offense band (a fine in excess of $500 but not more than $1,000), and the $100 supervision route is gone, because (c-5) is available only to a driver with no prior conviction and no prior disposition of court supervision under this Section. A third or subsequent violation is a business offense carrying a fine of $1,000. It also triggers 3-707(d): the driver must give the Secretary of State proof of financial responsibility as defined in Section 7-315 and maintain it for a minimum of 3 years after the proof is first filed, and the Secretary must suspend the license of anyone found not to have provided adequate proof.

Is driving without insurance a misdemeanor in Illinois?

A first or second violation is a petty offense under 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c), punishable by a fine in excess of $500 but not more than $1,000. A third or subsequent violation is a business offense with a fine of $1,000. If the uninsured driving causes bodily harm to another person, subsections (a-5) and (a-6) make it a Class A misdemeanor, and a driver with 2 or more prior (a-5) or 7-601 convictions faces a mandatory $2,500 fine on top of any sentence of incarceration.

Can it be dismissed?

Yes, if you actually had coverage. 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c) says no person charged with violating this Section shall be convicted if they produce in court satisfactory evidence that at the time of the arrest the vehicle was covered by a liability insurance policy under Section 7-601. This matters because 3-707(b) deems anyone who cannot show an officer proof of insurance to be operating uninsured, so insured drivers get ticketed over a missing card. The chief judge of each circuit may designate an officer of the court to review that documentation. If you were genuinely uninsured at the stop, this route is closed, but a first timer can still use 3-707(c-5): get covered before the court date and the statute directs a $100 fine and court supervision instead of a conviction.

What happens beyond the fine

A conviction means a 3 month suspension of your driver's license, permit, or privileges under 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c-1). Court supervision under (c-5) is a disposition without a conviction, so it does not trigger the suspension. If you are caught driving uninsured again while already suspended under (c-1), the suspension runs an additional 6 months and continues until the reinstatement fee is paid.

$100. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c-1), after the 3 month suspension expires your license, permit, or privileges are not reinstated until you have paid a reinstatement fee of $100.

Frequently asked questions

I was insured, I just did not have the card on me. Does the ticket still stick?

The ticket is valid, because 625 ILCS 5/3-707(b) says anyone who fails to comply with an officer's request to display evidence of insurance is deemed to be operating an uninsured vehicle. But the conviction should not stick. 3-707(c) states that no person charged with violating this Section shall be convicted if they produce in court satisfactory evidence that at the time of the arrest the vehicle was covered by a liability policy. Bring the declarations page or a carrier letter covering the arrest date.

Can I just pay the ticket and be done with it?

Paying is a guilty plea, and the consequences run past the fine. A conviction under 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c) carries a fine in excess of $500 (up to $1,000), and 3-707(c-1) then adds a 3 month suspension of your license, permit, or privileges plus a $100 reinstatement fee before you can drive again. If you had coverage at the time of arrest, or you can get covered before your court date as a first timer, appearing is worth far more than the convenience of paying.

Does court supervision keep the suspension off my record?

Yes. The 3 month suspension in 625 ILCS 5/3-707(c-1) applies to a person convicted of violating the Section, and court supervision under (c-5) is a disposition without a conviction, so the suspension is not triggered. It is effectively a one-time option: (c-5) requires that you have not previously been convicted of, or received a disposition of court supervision for, violating this Section, and it is not available for the bodily-harm offense in subsection (a-5).

Sources

This summary was checked against the following sources on the date shown above. Fines and fees change, verify before relying on specifics.

Other tickets in Illinois

Expired Registration in Illinois

Driving Without Insurance: other states

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General legal information, not legal advice. Statutes and penalty schedules summarized from the sources above as of July 2026.