§ 39-14.2-15. TNC and insurer disclosure requirements.
(a) The TNC shall disclose, in writing, to TNC drivers the following before they are allowed to accept a request for prearranged rides on the TNC’s digital network:
(1) The insurance coverage, including the types of coverage and the limits for each coverage, that the TNC provides while the TNC driver uses a personal vehicle in connection with a TNC’s digital network; and
(2) That the TNC driver’s own automobile insurance policy might not provide any coverage while the driver is logged on to the TNC’s digital network and is available to receive transportation requests or is engaged in a prearranged ride, depending on its terms.
(b) Insurers that write automobile liability insurance in Rhode Island may exclude any and all coverage afforded under the policy issued to an owner or operator of a personal vehicle for any loss or injury that occurs while a TNC driver is logged on to a TNC’s digital network or while a TNC driver provides a prearranged ride. This right to exclude all coverage may apply to any coverage included in an automobile insurance policy including, but not limited to:
(1) Liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage;
(2) Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage;
(3) Medical payments coverage;
(4) Comprehensive physical damage coverage;
(5) Collision physical damage coverage; and
(6) Personal injury protection.
Such exclusions shall apply notwithstanding any requirement under § 31-47-2(13)(i)(A). Nothing in this section shall be construed as to require an insurer to use any particular policy language or reference to this section in order to exclude any and all coverage for any loss or injury that occurs while a driver is logged on to a TNC’s digital network or while a TNC driver provides a prearranged ride.
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to preclude an insurer from providing primary or excess coverage by contract or endorsement for the TNC driver’s personal vehicle while the TNC driver is logged on to a digital network or while the driver is engaged in a prearranged ride.
(c) Automobile insurers that exclude the coverage described in § 39-14.2-14(b) and (c) shall have no duty to defend or indemnify any claim expressly excluded thereunder. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to invalidate or limit an exclusion contained in a policy including any policy in use or approved for use in Rhode Island prior to the enactment of this chapter that excludes coverage for vehicles used to carry persons or property for a charge or available for hire by the public. An automobile insurer that defends or indemnifies a claim against a driver that is excluded under the terms of its policy, shall have a right of contribution against other insurers that provide automobile insurance to the same driver in satisfaction of the coverage requirements of § 39-14.2-14(b) and (c) at the time of loss.
(d) In a claims coverage investigation, a TNC shall immediately provide upon request by directly involved parties or any insurer of the transportation network company driver, if applicable, the precise times that a transportation network company driver logged on and off of the TNC’s digital network in the twelve-hour (12) periods immediately preceding and immediately following the accident. Any insurer providing coverage under § 39-14.2-14(b) and (c) shall disclose upon request by any other such insurer involved in the particular claim, the applicable coverage, exclusions, and limits provided under any automobile insurance maintained under § 39-14.2-14(b) and (c).
History of Section.
P.L. 2016, ch. 346, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 367, § 1.