In his August Illinois Bar Journal article, “The Insurer-Insured Privilege,” Scott O. Reed observes that Illinois is one of the few U.S. jurisdictions to recognize what is known as the “insurer-insured privilege,” which protects from discovery statements made by an insured to its insurer, even though no attorney is involved in those communications. This description of the doctrine is straight-forward, but Reed notes Illinois cases have recognized several limitations, exceptions, and qualifications to this privilege.

Among the many takeaways in Reed’s article, determining which statements by insureds are privileged often requires knowing whether or at what point a duty to defend or duty to indemnify exists.

Read the August IBJ article, "The Insurer-Insured Privilege."