Uninsured And Underinsured Motorist Coverage In Rhode Island
An uninsured motorist ("UM") is someone that owns or operates a motor vehicle without buying an automobile insurance policy
. An underinsured motorist ("UIM") is a motorist whose own auto insurance coverage is insufficient to cover the financial damages caused to another motorist. RI consumers are required to purchase UM/UIM coverage on their own auto insurance policies (unless they expressly reject such coverage in writing). UM/UIM coverage protects consumers when they are injured by a UM/UIM motorist.Uninsured motorists are a significant problem in the United States and a substantial problem for Rhode Island drivers. According to a news release by the Insurance Research Council, an estimated 14% of all Rhode Island drivers were uninsured in 2007, compared to 1% in Massachusetts and 9% in Connecticut. If you have been in a RI or MA car accident, given these statistics, you may need a top rated RI accident lawyer to help you with an uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance claim.
Rhode Island law prohibits such risky behavior. Specifically, Rhode Island considers an underinsured motorist to be the owner or operator of a motor vehicle carrying automobile liability insurance that covers an amount less than the damages the insured person is legally entitled to recover due to bodily injury, sickness, or death.
You Rates Will Not Increase: If you suffer a RI personal injury due to the fault of an uninsured (or underinsured, meaning a motorist who has purchased insufficient insurance to cover your damages), insurance companies may not raise your rates when you use your policy's UM/UIM insurance.
Consumers should understand that all automobile insurance policies sold in Rhode Island must ordinarily include UM/UIM coverage. These limits are currently set at a minimum of $25,000 covering the property destruction (usually the vehicle), $25,000 for the injury or death of one person, and $50,000 for the injury or death of two or more people. While Rhode Island requires all auto insurance plans to include uninsured motorist coverage for physical injury, a motorist can opt out of purchasing uninsured motorist coverage for property damage to their vehicle. As a Rhode Island car accident lawyer, I carefully examine insurance policies covering uninsured and underinsured motorist when pursuing your car accident claim under Rhode Island law.
As the top RI car accident attorneys can tell you, the law gives an insured person the opportunity to be compensated for injuries caused by the negligent operation of an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle. This means uninsured motorist coverage protects a person against losses caused by uninsured or underinsured motorists, rather than protecting an insured motorist against liability from damage the insured motorist causes to others. For those damages and injuries, your car accident attorney must look elsewhere in your auto insurance policy. You should also keep in mind that the uninsured motorist insurance coverage your policy provides will only protect you against injuries when you are using the insured vehicle, rather than protecting you from any injury from an uninsured or underinsured motorist. As an example, an insurance policy covering a policyholder's car did not cover the policyholder's injuries when the policyholder collided with an uninsured motorist while riding his motorcycle.
The complexity of insurance law makes it is extremely helpful to consult a lawyer when pursuing an automobile insurance claim. For example, your attorney will know that lawsuits against an insurance company for uninsured motorist coverage are considered contract law claims based on an insurance policy, rather than a personal injury lawsuit. This can be a substantial difference, since a contract action under remains viable for ten years, compared to only two years for personal injury actions.
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