Nelson v. Enterprise Leasing Co. of Chicago

In garnishment action against defendant-car rental company seeking turnover of $600,000 to compensate plaintiff for personal injuries in underlying action against driver of defendant’s rental vehicle, where plaintiff had obtained default judgment against said driver, trial court granted plaintiff’s garnishment petition, but limited turnover amount to $25,000 based upon defendant’s claim that, as self-insured rental car company, its total liability was limited to $100,000, and that it had already paid $75,000 to two other individuals involved in same accident. Appellate Court, in finding that defendant was responsible for entire $600,000 default judgment, held that although defendant could have limited its obligation to statutory minimum coverage had it purchased liability insurance policy containing said minimum coverage, its choice to become self-insured meant that it was responsible for entire amount of default judgment.