Bernacchi v. Illinois Department of Insurance

Plaintiff filed a petition for writ of mandamus seeking to compel defendants to investigate and prosecute plaintiff’s claim of improper insurance claims practices against First Chicago Insurance Company under the Illinois Insurance Code and to adopt reasonable rules for implementation of the section of the code that provides the penalties the director can impose if a company engages in improper claims practices. The trial court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss and plaintiff appealed. The appellate court affirmed, finding that the trial court did not err in granting the defendant’s motion to dismiss because the plaintiff did not have a clear right to the relief requested and defendants did not have a clear duty to act and that plaintiff did not have standing to claim that she was injured by the director’s failure to “adopt reasonable rules,” because she did not sufficiently allege an injury associated with this allegation. (MIKVA and ODEN JOHNSON, concurring)