According to Illinois law (625 ILCS 5/7-601) it requires all motor vehicle owners to have minimum amounts of auto liability insurance. The IL Division of Insurance notes that in addition, lending institutions may require physical damage insurance to protect their interest in a financed vehicle.

In general the owner's policy on a vehicle that you may borrow on a rare occasion should cover you as a driver. For example the Illinois DOI states that the typical bodily injury liability coverage pays for bodily injury to another person or property damage you cause due to the negligent operation of a vehicle. It may also pay if the accident was caused by a member of your family living with you or a person using your vehicle with your permission.

Insurance policy terms can vary, especially exclusions, so the person who owns the car that you drive on occasion, and thus has the policy on it, should read through their policy as well as speak to their agent to make sure you are properly covered to operate their vehicle from time to time.

If however the person's car you are driving from time to time is a family member's whose household you live in then normally you will be required to be added to their policy and rated as a driver.

While you may not be required to have your own policy if you do not own a car, nor have a car in your household whose policy you could be put on, then you can get a non-owners policy. Typically, non-owners insurance is additional coverage to give you liability protection for when you are at fault and do not own a vehicle.

With a non-owners policy you usually only have bodily injury and property damage liability coverages. These coverages would then be secondary to the owner's insurance which would be primary if you were at fault in an accident. Your non-owners would only be used normally if the owner's liability limits were exceeded.

You want to verify that any vehicle you drive is insured. The owner of that vehicle is required to insure it per Illinois laws. You can comparison shop our rates for non-owner policies by getting a car insurance quote here.