TITLE 27

Insurance

CHAPTER 27-7

Liability Insurance

SECTION 27-7-2.1



   § 27-7-2.1  Uninsured motorist coverage.

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(a) No policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for

property damage caused by collision, bodily injury, or death suffered by any

person arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle

shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state with respect to any

motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state unless coverage

is provided in or supplemental to the policy, for bodily injury or death in

limits set forth in each policy, but in no instance less than the limits set

forth in § 31-31-7 under provisions approved by the insurance

commissioner, for the protection of persons insured under the policy who are

legally entitled to recover damages from owners or operators of uninsured motor

vehicles and hit-and-run motor vehicles because of property damage, bodily

injury, sickness, or disease, including death, resulting from that injury,

sickness or disease. The insurer shall provide uninsured motorist coverage in

an amount equal to the insured's bodily injury liability limits. The named

insured shall have the option of selecting a limit in writing less than the

bodily injury liability coverage, but in no event less than the limits set

forth in § 31-31-7, unless the named insured is purchasing only the

minimum coverage required by compulsory insurance provisions of the general

laws, in which case the limit can be reduced to zero, but only after signing an

advisory notice approved by the director of business regulation concerning the

hazard of uninsured and underinsured motorists. That coverage shall also apply

in the case of a responsible party whose liability insurance carrier was

insolvent at the time of the accident or became insolvent subsequent to the

accident.



   (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the

named insured shall have the option to reject, in writing, uninsured motorist

coverage for loss resulting from damage to property. If the named insured has

collision coverage for property damage to his or her vehicle, then no coverage

for uninsured motorist property damage shall be required unless the insured at

his or her option chooses to purchase that coverage.



   (c) For the purposes of this section:



   (1) "Policy insuring against loss" means a policy which

provides primary coverage for the insured motor vehicle; and



   (2) "Property damage" means injury to or destruction of the

insured vehicle, including its loss of use and any property, excluding business

property, owned by the insured while contained in the insured vehicle.



   (d) After the selection of limits by the named insured or the

exercise of the right to reject that portion of the coverage which applies to

property damage, the insurer or any affiliated insurer shall be required to

notify the policyholder, in any renewal, reinstatement, substitute, amended,

altered, modified, transfer, or replacement policy, as to the availability of

that coverage or optional limits. The insured may, subject to the limitations

expressed in this chapter, make a written request for higher limits, newly

added coverage, or coverage more extensive than that provided on a prior policy.



   (e) Property damage caused by collision shall be subject to a

two hundred dollar ($200) deductible per claim unless otherwise agreed. Any

claim submitted under the property damage portion of this section must include

the name, address, and other means of identification to establish that the

at-fault operator is without insurance. The rate for this coverage will be

established as a percentage of the existing base collision insurance rate as

utilized by the majority of companies, to be determined by the insurance

commissioner.



   (f) Whenever, through subrogation, an insurance company or

its insurance producer collects a casualty loss from a third party, that

company or insurance producer shall, from the funds collected, first pay to the

insured the deductible portion of the casualty loss less the prorated share of

subrogation expense and only after this retain any funds in excess of the

deductible portion of the recovery.



   (g) For the purposes of this section "uninsured motorist"

shall include an underinsured motorist. An "underinsured motorist" is the owner

or operator of a motor vehicle who carries automobile liability insurance with

coverage in an amount less than the limits or damages that persons insured

pursuant to this section are legally entitled to recover because of bodily

injury, sickness, or disease, including death, resulting from that injury,

sickness or disease.



   (h) A person entitled to recover damages pursuant to this

section shall not be required to make a claim against or bring an action

against the uninsured or underinsured tortfeasor as a prerequisite to recover

damages from the insurer providing coverage pursuant to this section. In the

event that the person entitled to recover against an underinsured motorist

recovers from the insurer providing coverage pursuant to this section, that

insurer shall be entitled to subrogation rights against the underinsured

motorist and his or her insurance carrier. Release of the tortfeasor with the

consent of the company providing the underinsured coverage shall not extinguish

or bar the claim of the insured against the underinsurance carrier regardless

of whether the claim has been liquidated.



   (i) Whenever an insured has paid two (2) or more separate

premiums for uninsured motorists' coverage in a single policy of insurance or

under several policies with the same insurance company, the insured shall be

permitted to collect up to the aggregate amount of coverage for all of the

vehicles insured, regardless of any language in the policy to the contrary.



History of Section.

(P.L. 1962, ch. 161, § 1; P.L. 1970, ch. 275, § 1; P.L. 1978, ch.

283, § 1; P.L. 1981, ch. 251, § 2; P.L. 1985, ch. 197, § 1; P.L.

1985, ch. 288, § 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 334, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 380,

§ 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 435, § 1; P.L. 1988, ch. 519, § 1; P.L.

1989, ch. 489, § 1; P.L. 1990, ch. 340, § 1; P.L. 1991, ch. 167,

§ 4; P.L. 1993, ch. 255, § 2.)