In all actions on account of bodily injury or physical damage to property, based on negligence, or product liability based on any theory or doctrine, where punitive damages are permitted no complaint shall be filed containing a prayer for relief seeking punitive damages. However, a plaintiff may, pursuant to a pretrial motion and after a hearing before the court, amend the complaint to include a prayer for relief seeking punitive damages. The court shall allow the motion to amend the complaint if the plaintiff establishes at such hearing a reasonable likelihood of proving facts at trial sufficient to support an award of punitive damages. Any motion to amend the complaint to include a prayer for relief seeking punitive damages shall be made not later than 30 days after the close of discovery. A prayer for relief added pursuant to this Section shall not be barred by lapse of time under any statute prescribing or limiting the time within which an action may be brought or right asserted if the time prescribed or limited had not expired when the original pleading was filed.
2-604.1.Pleading of punitive damages.
Article II. Civil Practice · Part 6. Pleading · Last amended 1995 · Last verified July 20, 2026
The official Illinois Compiled Statutes database prints two separate versions of this section — a Public Act later held unconstitutional alongside the text as it read before that amendment; both are shown below.
In one sentencePunitive damages cannot be pleaded in a personal-injury, property-damage negligence, or product-liability complaint from the outset -- a plaintiff must first win court permission by motion showing a reasonable likelihood of proving facts to support the claim.
Full Text of 735 ILCS 5/2-604.1
735 ILCS 5/2-604.1. With the changes made by P.A. 89-7 (held unconstitutional)
735 ILCS 5/2-604.1. Without the changes made by P.A. 89-7 (held unconstitutional)
In all actions on account of bodily injury or physical damage to property, based on negligence, or product liability based on strict tort liability, where punitive damages are permitted no complaint shall be filed containing a prayer for relief seeking punitive damages. However, a plaintiff may, pursuant to a pretrial motion and after a hearing before the court, amend the complaint to include a prayer for relief seeking punitive damages. The court shall allow the motion to amend the complaint if the plaintiff establishes at such hearing a reasonable likelihood of proving facts at trial sufficient to support an award of punitive damages. Any motion to amend the complaint to include a prayer for relief seeking punitive damages shall be made not later than 30 days after the close of discovery. A prayer for relief added pursuant to this Section shall not be barred by lapse of time under any statute prescribing or limiting the time within which an action may be brought or right asserted if the time prescribed or limited had not expired when the original pleading was filed.
Plain-English Summary
Section 2-604.1 blocks a plaintiff from front-loading a punitive-damages demand in certain tort complaints. In actions for bodily injury or property damage grounded in negligence, or in product-liability actions, no complaint may be filed with a prayer for punitive damages already in it. The plaintiff has to earn that request through a pretrial motion, and the court holds a hearing before deciding whether to grant it.
The standard for that motion is a reasonable likelihood of proving facts at trial sufficient to support a punitive-damages award -- lower than proof at trial, but higher than the bare say-so in a complaint would otherwise require. The motion must come within 30 days after the close of discovery, which keeps the punitive-damages question from surfacing at the last minute. And because an amendment adding the prayer relates back to the original filing date, a plaintiff who wins the motion does not lose the claim to a limitations bar that would otherwise have run.
This section carries two versions in the underlying statute. The version tagged "WITH P.A. 89-7" applies the screening requirement to product-liability actions "based on any theory or doctrine." The version tagged "WITHOUT P.A. 89-7" applies it only to product-liability actions "based on strict tort liability" -- a narrower reach that leaves negligence-based or other non-strict-liability product claims outside the section. Everything else in the two versions, including the procedural mechanics of the motion and the relation-back protection, reads the same.
Section 2-1115 elsewhere in the Code bars punitive damages entirely in certain professional-malpractice actions, which is worth knowing alongside this section's gatekeeping approach for the actions it does cover.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a plaintiff ask for punitive damages in the original complaint?
Not in the actions this section covers -- negligence-based bodily injury or property damage claims, and product-liability actions. The complaint cannot include a punitive-damages prayer; the plaintiff must seek it later by motion.
What must a plaintiff show to add a punitive-damages claim?
A reasonable likelihood of proving facts at trial sufficient to support an award of punitive damages, demonstrated at a hearing on a pretrial motion to amend the complaint.
Is there a deadline for that motion?
Yes. The motion to amend the complaint to add a punitive-damages prayer must be made no later than 30 days after the close of discovery.
Does adding a punitive-damages claim late in the case raise a limitations problem?
The section addresses that directly: a punitive-damages prayer added this way is not barred by lapse of time if the limitations period had not expired when the original pleading was filed.
What is the difference between the section's two statutory versions?
The WITH P.A. 89-7 version covers product-liability actions "based on any theory or doctrine," while the WITHOUT P.A. 89-7 version reaches only product-liability actions "based on strict tort liability." The screening procedure and relation-back rule are identical in both.
Amendment History
With the changes made by P.A. 89-7 (held unconstitutional)(Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95.)
Without the changes made by P.A. 89-7 (held unconstitutional)(Source: P.A. 84-1431.)
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Illinois Compiled Statutes, published by the
Illinois Compiled Statutes, Illinois General Assembly / Legislative Reference Bureau. Last verified July 20, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: punitive damages illinois complaintmotion to add punitive damages illinoisprayer for punitive damagesproduct liability punitive damages illinois