2021 -- S 0723

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LC002055

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO INSURANCE – LIABILITY INSURANCE

     Introduced By: Senators Archambault, Coyne, and Lombardo

     Date Introduced: March 26, 2021

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 27-7-2.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 27-7 entitled "Liability

Insurance" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     27-7-2.1. Uninsured motorist coverage.

     (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

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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) one or more separate premiums for motor vehicles

and has uninsured motorists' coverage for those motor vehicles 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.

     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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     This act would provide that if an insured has one or more motor vehicles with uninsured

motorist’s coverage, the insured is permitted to collect up to the aggregate amount of coverage for

all vehicles covered by the insurance policies.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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