Illinois DOI Independent Again

The Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) is once again an independent division of state government, a position it held for more than a century prior to its consolidation with several other state agencies in 2004.

Gov. Pat Quinn with Executive Order 4 re-established the DOI as a regulatory agency separate from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Both the Illinois House and Senate approved legislation re-establishing DOI as a separate department, as well. The change was effective June 1.

The DOI’s operations will continue to be funded through assessments on the insurance industry rather than from the state’s general revenue fund.

With the change, the department launched a new Web site, insurance.illinois.gov, which covers all insurance topics and features a new search tool powered by Google.