AAI Supports State Farm in Illinois Aftermarket Parts Case

The Alliance of American Insurers announced that it will file an amicus brief with the Illinois Supreme Court today in support of State Farm’s appeal of a lower court judgment in the case of Avery vs. State Farm Insurance.

The original judgment found State Farm liable for using “non-standard” parts (i.e. those made by someone other than the original manufacturer, dubbed ‘non oem’) to repair damaged vehicles. It ordered the company to pay $1.2 billion in damages to 4.7 million of its policyholders in the class action lawsuit.

Early last month, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear State Farm’s appeal. AAI General Counsel Ann Spragens said that the organization’s brief will argue that the lawsuit represented a class of policyholders from nearly all 50 states, but the laws on use of aftermarket parts vary from state to state, and therefore “the court should not have applied Illinois’ more restrictive use of aftermarket parts to all State Farm policyholders.”

“The Alliance strongly supports the use of aftermarket parts supplied by manufacturers other than the automakers,” stated Kirk Hansen, AAI director of claims. “Insurance companies and car owners pay outrageous prices for so-called genuine parts from the automakers when studies have shown that certified aftermarket parts are equal to, or better than the automakers parts, and much less expensive.”

Topics Illinois