2023 -- H 5487 | |
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LC000995 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO INSURANCE -- LIABILITY INSURANCE | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Dawson, O'Brien, Cardillo, Craven, Shanley, McEntee, | |
Date Introduced: February 10, 2023 | |
Referred To: House Corporations | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 27-7-2.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 27-7 entitled "Liability |
2 | Insurance" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 27-7-2.1. Uninsured motorist coverage. |
4 | (a) No policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for property |
5 | damage caused by collision, bodily injury, or death suffered by any person arising out of the |
6 | ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this |
7 | state with respect to any motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state unless coverage |
8 | is provided in or supplemental to the policy, for bodily injury or death in limits set forth in each |
9 | policy, but in no instance less than the limits set forth in § 31-47-2(13)(i)(A) under provisions |
10 | approved by the insurance commissioner, for the protection of persons insured under the policy |
11 | who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles |
12 | and hit-and-run motor vehicles because of property damage, bodily injury, sickness, or disease, |
13 | including death, resulting from that injury, sickness, or disease. The insurer shall provide uninsured |
14 | motorist coverage in an amount equal to the insured’s bodily injury liability limits. The named |
15 | insured shall have the option of selecting a limit in writing less than the bodily injury liability |
16 | coverage, but in no event less than the limits set forth in § 31-47-2(13)(i)(A), unless the named |
17 | insured is purchasing only the minimum coverage required by compulsory insurance provisions of |
18 | the general laws, in which case the limit can be reduced to zero, but only after signing an advisory |
19 | notice approved by the director of business regulation concerning the hazard of uninsured and |
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1 | underinsured motorists. That coverage shall also apply in the case of a responsible party whose |
2 | liability insurance carrier was insolvent at the time of the accident or became insolvent subsequent |
3 | to the accident. |
4 | (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the named insured shall have the |
5 | option to reject, in writing, uninsured motorist coverage for loss resulting from damage to property. |
6 | If the named insured has collision coverage for property damage to his or her vehicle, then no |
7 | coverage for uninsured motorist property damage shall be required unless the insured at his or her |
8 | option chooses to purchase that coverage. |
9 | (c) For the purposes of this section: |
10 | (1) “Policy insuring against loss” means a policy that provides primary coverage for the |
11 | insured motor vehicle; and |
12 | (2) “Property damage” means injury to or destruction of the insured vehicle, including its |
13 | loss of use and any property, excluding business property, owned by the insured while contained |
14 | in the insured vehicle. |
15 | (d) After the selection of limits by the named insured or the exercise of the right to reject |
16 | that portion of the coverage that applies to property damage, the insurer or any affiliated insurer |
17 | shall be required to notify the policyholder, in any renewal, reinstatement, substitute, amended, |
18 | altered, modified, transfer, or replacement policy, as to the availability of that coverage or optional |
19 | limits. The insured may, subject to the limitations expressed in this chapter, make a written request |
20 | for higher limits, newly added coverage, or coverage more extensive than that provided on a prior |
21 | policy. |
22 | (e) Property damage caused by collision shall be subject to a two hundred dollar ($200) |
23 | deductible per claim unless otherwise agreed. Any claim submitted under the property damage |
24 | portion of this section must include the name, address, and other means of identification to establish |
25 | that the at-fault operator is without insurance. The rate for this coverage will be established as a |
26 | percentage of the existing base collision insurance rate as utilized by the majority of companies, to |
27 | be determined by the insurance commissioner. |
28 | (f) Whenever, through subrogation, an insurance company or its insurance producer |
29 | collects a casualty loss from a third party, that company or insurance producer shall, from the funds |
30 | collected, first pay to the insured the deductible portion of the casualty loss less the prorated share |
31 | of subrogation expense and only after this retain any funds in excess of the deductible portion of |
32 | the recovery. |
33 | (g) For the purposes of this section “uninsured motorist” shall include an underinsured |
34 | motorist. An “underinsured motorist” is the owner or operator of a motor vehicle who carries |
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1 | automobile liability insurance with coverage in an amount less than the limits or damages that |
2 | persons insured pursuant to this section are legally entitled to recover because of bodily injury, |
3 | sickness, or disease, including death, resulting from that injury, sickness, or disease. |
4 | (h) A person entitled to recover damages pursuant to this section shall not be required to |
5 | make a claim against or bring an action against the uninsured or underinsured tortfeasor as a |
6 | prerequisite to recover damages from the insurer providing coverage pursuant to this section. In the |
7 | event that the person entitled to recover against an underinsured motorist recovers from the insurer |
8 | providing coverage pursuant to this section, that insurer shall be entitled to subrogation rights |
9 | against the underinsured motorist and his or her insurance carrier. Release of the tortfeasor with the |
10 | consent of the company providing the underinsured coverage shall not extinguish or bar the claim |
11 | of the insured against the underinsurance carrier regardless of whether the claim has been |
12 | liquidated. |
13 | (i) Whenever an insured has paid two (2) or more separate premiums for uninsured |
14 | motorists’ coverage in a single policy of insurance or under several policies with the same insurance |
15 | company, the insured shall be permitted to collect up to the aggregate amount of coverage for all |
16 | of the vehicles insured, regardless of any language in the policy to the contrary. |
17 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO INSURANCE -- LIABILITY INSURANCE | |
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1 | This act would provide for mandatory uninsured motorist coverage. |
2 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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