§ 27-57-1. Interception of insurance payments.
(a) Every domestic insurer or insurance company authorized to issue policies of life insurance or liability insurance pursuant to this title, and also any workers’ compensation insurer, shall, within thirty (30) days prior to the making of any payment equal to or in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) to any claimant or beneficiary who is a resident of the state of Rhode Island or to any claimant who has an accident or loss that occurred in the state of Rhode Island, for third-party personal injury or workers’ compensation benefits under a contract of insurance, or who is to receive any economic benefit from a life insurance policy, including, but not limited to, as a co-payee, or whether by means of cash surrender under any type policy, or as a loan against the cash value or surrender value of any insurance policy, review information provided by the department of human services, office of child support services, child support enforcement pursuant to § 27-57-4 indicating whether the claimant owes past-due child support.
(b) If the insurer determines from the information provided by the department pursuant to § 27-57-4 that the claimant or payee does not owe past-due support, the insurer may make the payment to the claimant in accordance with the contract of the insurance.
(c) If the insurer determines from the information provided by the department pursuant to § 27-57-4 that the claimant or payee owes past-due child support, the insurer shall, except to the extent payments are subject to liens, written notices, or interests described in § 27-57-3, withhold from payment the amount of past-due support and pay that amount to the family court which shall credit the person’s child support obligation account for the amount so paid, and the insurer shall pay the balance to the claimant or other person entitled to it. The insurer or insurance company shall provide written notice to the claimant and the claimant’s attorney, if any, and notice by email or other electronic means, to the department of the payment to the family court. The payment shall be deposited in the registry of the family court for a period of forty-five (45) days, or if an application for review has been filed pursuant to subsection (d), until further order of the court. The notice shall reflect the date, name, social security number, case number, and amount of the payment. Any insurer or insurance company, its directors, agents, and employees and central reporting organizations and their respective employees, authorized by an insurer to act on its behalf, who release information in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, or who withhold amounts from payment based upon the latest information supplied by the department pursuant to § 27-57-4 and make disbursements in accordance with § 27-57-3, shall be in compliance and shall be immune from any liability to the claimant, payee lienholder, payee who provided written notice, or security interest holder for taking that action.
(d) Any claimant aggrieved by any action taken under this section may within thirty (30) days of the making of the notice to the claimant in subsection (c) of this section, seek judicial review in the family court, which may in its discretion issue a temporary order prohibiting the disbursement of funds under this section, pending final adjudication.
[See § 12-1-15 of the General Laws.]
History of Section.
P.L. 1995, ch. 370, art. 29, § 7; P.L. 1995, ch. 374, § 7; P.L. 1997, ch. 170, § 20;
P.L. 1998, ch. 370, § 5; P.L. 2000, ch. 378, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 241, art. 11, § 2;
P.L. 2023, ch. 21, § 1, effective May 18, 2023; P.L. 2023, ch. 22, § 1, effective
May 18, 2023.