Rhode Island Uninsured Motorist Coverage: What the Law Requires and How It Pays

Riskado

Jan 28, 2026 · 10 min read · Updated Sep 30, 2026

Auto Rhode IslandUninsured motorist coverageUnderinsured motorist coverageRhode island auto insuranceFiling a claim

A hatchback with a scraped rear corner parked in an apartment parking lot

Yes, Rhode Island requires uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on qualifying auto liability policies. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-7-2.1 (opens in a new tab), a policy for a vehicle registered or principally garaged in the state must include UM coverage for bodily injury and death, starting at an amount equal to your own bodily-injury liability limits. You can choose lower UM limits in writing, but not below the state's compulsory minimums of $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage, or a $75,000 combined single limit, set by R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-47-2 (opens in a new tab). If you buy only minimum coverage, you can reduce bodily-injury UM to zero after signing a required advisory notice. The property-damage part of UM can be rejected in writing. All of these rules were checked October 1, 2026.

That means the answer to "do I have it?" lives on two pieces of paper: your declarations page and any selection or rejection form you signed.

Key takeaways

Is it required?Yes. Rhode Island requires UM coverage for bodily injury and death on policies for vehicles registered or principally garaged in the state.
Starting limitUM limits start at an amount equal to your own bodily-injury liability limits.
Lowering itYou can choose lower limits in writing, but not below $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage, or a $75,000 combined single limit.
Minimum-only policiesBodily-injury UM can drop to zero after you sign the required advisory notice.
Property damageThe property-damage part of UM can be rejected in writing.

What Rhode Island Uninsured Motorist Coverage Pays

UM coverage protects people insured under your policy who are legally entitled to recover damages from the driver of an uninsured vehicle or a hit-and-run vehicle. According to § 27-7-2.1 (opens in a new tab), it reaches bodily injury, sickness, disease and death, and it also has a property-damage portion.

Hit-and-run crashes are written into the statute directly, so a driver who leaves the scene does not take your UM claim with them. Your policy and the insurer's claim investigation still set what proof you need, which is one reason a prompt police report matters.

The statute also treats an insolvent insurer as an uninsured-motorist situation. If the at-fault driver's liability carrier was insolvent at the time of the crash, or became insolvent afterward, the claim can move to your UM coverage under § 27-7-2.1 (opens in a new tab).

The property-damage portion covers injury to or destruction of the insured vehicle, including loss of use. It also covers property other than business property that you own while it is inside the vehicle. Property damage caused by collision carries a $200 deductible per claim unless you and the insurer agreed otherwise, according to § 27-7-2.1(e) (opens in a new tab).

Rhode Island does not run a general state fund that pays UM claims. The coverage obligation sits in your own auto policy. The DMV does operate an uninsured motorist identification database under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-47.4-2 (opens in a new tab), but that program checks whether vehicles are insured; it does not pay claims.

A two-lane road at dusk with one car parked on the shoulder and its hazard lights on — UM coverage responds when the at-fault driver is uninsured, underinsured or cannot be found.

What Counts as an Underinsured Motorist in Rhode Island

Underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) is part of the same Rhode Island statute rather than a separate add-on. Section 27-7-2.1(g) (opens in a new tab) says "uninsured motorist" includes an underinsured motorist, meaning an owner or operator whose auto liability insurance is less than the limits or damages that insured persons are legally entitled to recover for bodily injury, sickness, disease or death.

In practice, the other driver has some insurance, but not enough to cover the injury damages you can legally recover. Say the at-fault driver carries the $25,000 per-person minimum and your legally recoverable injury damages are higher. The gap between what their liability insurer pays and what you are owed is where UIM comes in. How much your policy pays depends on your UM/UIM limit and on how your policy treats the amount the at-fault driver's insurer has already paid, so ask your insurer for the calculation on your own policy rather than assuming a formula.

If you need to know the other driver's limits, Rhode Island law helps. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-7-5 (opens in a new tab), an insurer must reply within 14 days to a written request for liability-limit information from an injured party or their attorney.

Can You Reject or Reduce UM Coverage in Rhode Island?

You can lower it, and in some cases remove it, but only in writing. The steps under § 27-7-2.1(a) and (b) (opens in a new tab) work like this for the bodily-injury part:

The insurer starts with UM limits equal to your bodily-injury liability limits.
You, as the named insured, may select a lower limit in writing.
That lower limit cannot fall below Rhode Island's compulsory minimums.
If you are buying only minimum compulsory coverage, the limit can drop to zero after you sign the advisory notice about uninsured and underinsured motorists approved by the Department of Business Regulation (DBR).

The property-damage part follows a different rule. You may reject it in writing, and if you carry collision coverage on the vehicle, property-damage UM is not required unless you choose it, according to § 27-7-2.1(b) (opens in a new tab). That makes a practical question worth asking: if UM property damage was rejected, will your collision coverage handle damage from an uninsured driver, and at what deductible?

Going the other direction is allowed too. A named insured may request higher UM limits, newly added coverage or broader coverage in writing, subject to the statute's limits, under § 27-7-2.1(d) (opens in a new tab).

A blank form and a pen on a kitchen table beside a set of car keys — Lowering or rejecting UM coverage takes a written choice by the named insured.

Rhode Island's Minimum Liability Limits

Because UM limits are tied to liability limits, it helps to know the floor. R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-47-2 (opens in a new tab) sets these compulsory limits, checked October 1, 2026:

Rhode Island compulsory liability minimums and the UM deductible

Hover or tap a row to highlight it.

Coverage	Minimum
Bodily injury or death, one person, one accident	$25,000
Bodily injury or death, two or more people, one accident	$50,000
Property damage to others, one accident	$25,000
Combined single limit alternative	$75,000
UM property-damage deductible	$200 per claim unless otherwise agreed

The UM statute was last amended by legislation effective July 14, 2021, per the history on § 27-7-2.1 (opens in a new tab).

Is Rhode Island a No-Fault State?

No. Rhode Island's compulsory insurance law requires financial security for liability imposed by law for bodily injury, death and property damage, under § 31-47-2 (opens in a new tab). That is a fault-based system: the driver who causes a crash is responsible for the damages, and their liability insurance pays.

Medical payments coverage sometimes causes confusion here. It pays for treatment of injuries to you and your passengers, according to the NAIC consumer auto guide hosted by the Rhode Island DBR (opens in a new tab). Personal injury protection (PIP) is the coverage used in no-fault states, and it can also pay items such as lost wages and funeral costs, according to the same guide. Having medical payments coverage on a Rhode Island policy does not make the state no-fault. Rhode Island law also allows a medical examination when your medical condition is material to a first- or third-party auto medical-payment claim, under R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-9.2-1 (opens in a new tab).

UM bodily-injury coverage is different again. It pays when someone else is legally at fault and has no insurance, too little insurance or cannot be found.

Who Is Covered: Passengers, Family and Pedestrians

The statute protects "persons insured under the policy," per § 27-7-2.1 (opens in a new tab). Who fits that description is set by your policy form. UM bodily-injury coverage pays for injuries to the insured and passengers when hit by a hit-and-run or at-fault uninsured driver, according to the NAIC shopping tool (opens in a new tab).

Whether your coverage follows you when you are a pedestrian, riding in someone else's car or driving a nonowned vehicle depends on the policy's definitions. Ask your agency or insurer how your policy treats resident relatives, passengers, pedestrians, permissive users, nonowned vehicles and business use.

How a Rhode Island UM Claim Usually Proceeds

After a crash with an uninsured or hit-and-run driver, the steps that protect a claim are mostly about notice and records. Based on the DBR consumer resources (opens in a new tab), the NAIC auto guide (opens in a new tab) and § 27-7-2.1(h) (opens in a new tab), a typical path looks like this:

Notify your auto insurer using the policy's claim instructions as soon as reasonably possible.
Report a hit-and-run to law enforcement promptly and keep the police report or report number.
Keep crash information, photographs, witness details, the other vehicle's plate and driver information, medical records and bills, wage-loss records and repair estimates.
Give the insurer your declarations page and any signed UM selection, reduction or rejection form.
Ask the insurer what proof it needs to show the other driver was uninsured, underinsured or involved in a hit-and-run.
Before you sign a release or settle with the at-fault driver or their insurer, ask your UM insurer how that release affects your UM or UIM claim.

You do not have to sue the other driver first. Section 27-7-2.1(h) (opens in a new tab) says an eligible person is not required to make a claim against or bring an action against the uninsured or underinsured driver before recovering from the UM insurer. When your insurer pays an underinsured-motorist claim, it gains subrogation rights against that driver and their insurer, meaning it can seek repayment from them.

Your policy may also contain notice, cooperation, proof, appraisal and arbitration terms. Those terms control the details, and an injury claim with legal questions belongs with a licensed attorney.

A folder of blank papers, a phone and a notepad on a desk next to a coffee mug — Notice to your insurer and good records protect a UM claim.

Can UM Coverage Stack in Rhode Island?

It can, when you paid for it more than once. Under § 27-7-2.1(i) (opens in a new tab), if two or more separate UM premiums were paid in one policy, or under several policies with the same insurer, an insured may collect up to the aggregate coverage amount for all the insured vehicles. A household with two cars insured with one company, each with its own UM premium, is the common case. Ask your agency whether your policy lists a separate UM premium for each vehicle.

Two cars parked side by side in the driveway of a shingled Rhode Island home — Separate UM premiums on two vehicles with one insurer can stack.

What Happens If Your Rhode Island Auto Insurance Lapses

UM coverage only helps if the policy is active, and Rhode Island enforces its compulsory insurance law. The DMV matches registrations against insurer data through its Insurance Verification Program (RIIVS) (opens in a new tab) and sends registration revocation notices when a vehicle shows as uninsured.

Penalties for driving uninsured under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-47-9 (opens in a new tab), checked October 1, 2026:

Penalties for driving uninsured in Rhode Island

Hover or tap a row to highlight it.

Offense	Penalty
First offense	Suspension of up to 3 months and a $100 to $500 fine
Second offense	6-month suspension and a $500 fine
Third or later offense	Suspension of up to 1 year and a $1,000 civil-violation fine
Reinstatement fee	$30, potentially increased up to $50

The same statute requires proof of financial security before reinstatement.

Business and Commercial Vehicles

The UM statute applies to commercial auto policies as well as personal ones, subject to the policy form, per § 27-7-2.1 (opens in a new tab). If your business owns vehicles or employees drive for work, ask the agency who counts as an insured on the commercial policy, whether employees are covered while driving company vehicles, and whether a personal policy responds when a personal car is used for business or rideshare driving.

Questions to Ask Your Insurance Agency

A short conversation with an agency can answer most of what the declarations page leaves open. Useful questions, drawn from the statute and the NAIC shopping tool (opens in a new tab):

What UM bodily-injury limits are on my declarations page, and do they match my bodily-injury liability limits?
Did I sign a lower-limit selection or the DBR advisory notice reducing UM to zero?
Do I have UM property-damage coverage, or did I reject it in writing?
What deductible applies to UM property damage, and how does my collision coverage interact with it?
How does my policy treat payments from the at-fault driver's insurer on an underinsured claim?
Am I paying separate UM premiums for each vehicle, and how would stacking apply?
Who is an insured person: resident relatives, passengers, pedestrians, permissive users?
Does the policy cover business use?
What notice and proof do you need after a hit-and-run or uninsured-driver crash?
What do the arbitration, appraisal and release provisions say?
What does medical payments coverage pay separately from UM bodily injury?

Riskado lists insurance agencies by city and by category in Rhode Island, if you want a local agency to review these answers with you.

Rhode Island Uninsured Motorist FAQ

How common are uninsured drivers in Rhode Island?

The Insurance Research Council published state and national estimates in its February 20, 2025 report, Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists: 2017 to 2023 (opens in a new tab). The rate is a statewide estimate, so it says little about your own chance of meeting an uninsured driver.

Is UM property damage the same as collision coverage?

No. UM property damage pays when an uninsured driver damages your vehicle, with a $200 deductible per claim unless otherwise agreed under § 27-7-2.1 (opens in a new tab). Collision pays for damage to your car regardless of fault, under its own deductible.

Does a UM claim require proof the other driver was uninsured?

Yes, the insurer will ask you to establish uninsured, underinsured, hit-and-run or insolvent-insurer status, and your policy sets the proof requirements. Keep the police report or report number and the other vehicle's plate, driver and insurer details, then ask your insurer exactly what else it needs.

Can my UM limit be higher than my liability limit?

A named insured may request higher limits or broader coverage in writing, subject to the statute's limits, under § 27-7-2.1(d) (opens in a new tab). Ask your agency what limits the insurer offers.

The Short Version

Rhode Island builds UM coverage into qualifying auto policies at your liability limits, lets you lower it in writing within the state minimums, and lets you reject the property-damage part. It covers uninsured, underinsured, hit-and-run and insolvent-insurer situations, and you do not have to sue the other driver first. Pull your declarations page and any signed forms, then take the open questions to your agency or insurer.

Terms used in this guide

Tap a term to see what it means.

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. Coverage in your own policy for people insured under it who are legally entitled to recover from an uninsured or hit-and-run driver.