§ 27-7-2.1 - Uninsured motorist coverage. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 27-7-2.1

   § 27-7-2.1  Uninsured motorist coverage.– (a) No policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law forproperty damage caused by collision, bodily injury, or death suffered by anyperson arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicleshall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state with respect to anymotor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state unless coverageis provided in or supplemental to the policy, for bodily injury or death inlimits set forth in each policy, but in no instance less than the limits setforth in § 31-31-7 under provisions approved by the insurancecommissioner, for the protection of persons insured under the policy who arelegally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motorvehicles and hit-and-run motor vehicles because of property damage, bodilyinjury, sickness, or disease, including death, resulting from that injury,sickness or disease. The insurer shall provide uninsured motorist coverage inan amount equal to the insured's bodily injury liability limits. The namedinsured shall have the option of selecting a limit in writing less than thebodily injury liability coverage, but in no event less than the limits setforth in § 31-31-7, unless the named insured is purchasing only theminimum coverage required by compulsory insurance provisions of the generallaws, in which case the limit can be reduced to zero, but only after signing anadvisory notice approved by the director of business regulation concerning thehazard of uninsured and underinsured motorists. That coverage shall also applyin the case of a responsible party whose liability insurance carrier wasinsolvent at the time of the accident or became insolvent subsequent to theaccident.

   (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), thenamed insured shall have the option to reject, in writing, uninsured motoristcoverage for loss resulting from damage to property. If the named insured hascollision coverage for property damage to his or her vehicle, then no coveragefor uninsured motorist property damage shall be required unless the insured athis or her option chooses to purchase that coverage.

   (c) For the purposes of this section:

   (1) "Policy insuring against loss" means a policy whichprovides primary coverage for the insured motor vehicle; and

   (2) "Property damage" means injury to or destruction of theinsured vehicle, including its loss of use and any property, excluding businessproperty, owned by the insured while contained in the insured vehicle.

   (d) After the selection of limits by the named insured or theexercise of the right to reject that portion of the coverage which applies toproperty damage, the insurer or any affiliated insurer shall be required tonotify the policyholder, in any renewal, reinstatement, substitute, amended,altered, modified, transfer, or replacement policy, as to the availability ofthat coverage or optional limits. The insured may, subject to the limitationsexpressed in this chapter, make a written request for higher limits, newlyadded coverage, or coverage more extensive than that provided on a prior policy.

   (e) Property damage caused by collision shall be subject to atwo hundred dollar ($200) deductible per claim unless otherwise agreed. Anyclaim submitted under the property damage portion of this section must includethe name, address, and other means of identification to establish that theat-fault operator is without insurance. The rate for this coverage will beestablished as a percentage of the existing base collision insurance rate asutilized by the majority of companies, to be determined by the insurancecommissioner.

   (f) Whenever, through subrogation, an insurance company orits insurance producer collects a casualty loss from a third party, thatcompany or insurance producer shall, from the funds collected, first pay to theinsured the deductible portion of the casualty loss less the prorated share ofsubrogation expense and only after this retain any funds in excess of thedeductible portion of the recovery.

   (g) For the purposes of this section "uninsured motorist"shall include an underinsured motorist. An "underinsured motorist" is the owneror operator of a motor vehicle who carries automobile liability insurance withcoverage in an amount less than the limits or damages that persons insuredpursuant to this section are legally entitled to recover because of bodilyinjury, sickness, or disease, including death, resulting from that injury,sickness or disease.

   (h) A person entitled to recover damages pursuant to thissection shall not be required to make a claim against or bring an actionagainst the uninsured or underinsured tortfeasor as a prerequisite to recoverdamages from the insurer providing coverage pursuant to this section. In theevent that the person entitled to recover against an underinsured motoristrecovers from the insurer providing coverage pursuant to this section, thatinsurer shall be entitled to subrogation rights against the underinsuredmotorist and his or her insurance carrier. Release of the tortfeasor with theconsent of the company providing the underinsured coverage shall not extinguishor bar the claim of the insured against the underinsurance carrier regardlessof whether the claim has been liquidated.

   (i) Whenever an insured has paid two (2) or more separatepremiums for uninsured motorists' coverage in a single policy of insurance orunder several policies with the same insurance company, the insured shall bepermitted to collect up to the aggregate amount of coverage for all of thevehicles insured, regardless of any language in the policy to the contrary.