Rhode Island runs an at-fault (tort) car insurance system, so after a crash you collect from the driver who caused it. That plan breaks down against a driver who carries no insurance or too little of it, and against the hit-and-run driver who never sticks around to be sued. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM) is the part of your own policy that pays in those situations. The national hub for this topic explains how UM/UIM works in general. This page stays narrow: the exact rules, dollar figures, and court decisions that control UM/UIM claims in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island makes insurers offer it
Every auto policy issued in Rhode Island has to include UM/UIM coverage for bodily injury unless you affirmatively cut it. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-7-2.1, no liability policy can be delivered in the state for a vehicle registered or garaged here "unless coverage is provided" for bodily injury or death caused by uninsured and hit-and-run drivers.1 By default that coverage comes in "an amount equal to" your bodily injury liability limits, so a driver who buys higher liability limits automatically gets higher UM/UIM protection unless they sign it down.1
The state's minimum liability limits set the floor. Section 31-47-2 requires at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage, with a $75,000 combined single limit offered as an alternative.2 The Department of Business Regulation's Insurance Regulation 10 (230-RICR-20-05-1), effective January 4, 2022, backs this up: insurers must offer UM/UIM bodily injury limits equal to the policy's liability limits and must offer uninsured motorist property damage coverage of at least $25,000.3
How you can waive or reduce it
You can carry less UM/UIM than your liability limits, but Rhode Island puts the decision in writing. Section 27-7-2.1 lets a named insured reduce the coverage below the liability limits, though not below the statutory minimums, or reject it down to zero only if the policy carries just the minimum required liability coverage, and only after signing "an advisory notice approved by the director of business regulation" that spells out the danger of uninsured and underinsured drivers.1 Regulation 10 requires any rejection to be made in writing on a form substantially similar to the one the agency prescribes, and if the insurer never gets a signed rejection back, the $25,000 minimum UM coverage applies by default.3
Property damage UM works a little differently. If you already carry collision coverage on your car, you can reject uninsured motorist property damage in writing, and the statute attaches a $200 deductible per claim unless you agree otherwise.1 Any time the policy renews, reinstates, or is replaced, the insurer has to notify you again, clearly and in writing, that the coverage and higher limits are available.3
Underinsured claims and the setoff
In Rhode Island the same statute covers underinsured drivers. Section 27-7-2.1(g) defines an "underinsured motorist" as an owner or operator whose liability coverage is "in an amount less than the limits or damages" the injured person is legally entitled to recover.1 In plain terms, UIM kicks in when the at-fault driver had some insurance but not enough to cover what you actually lost.
Two features make Rhode Island's version friendlier to injured people than many states. First, you can stack. When you have paid two or more separate premiums on a policy, § 27-7-2.1 says you may "collect up to the aggregate amount of coverage for all of the vehicles insured, regardless of any language in the policy to the contrary," so a household insuring three cars can combine those UM limits.1 Second, the statute protects your right to settle with the at-fault driver. A release of the tortfeasor given "with the consent of the company providing the underinsured coverage" does not extinguish your UIM claim, and once your insurer pays UIM benefits it is subrogated to your rights against the underinsured driver.1 The practical takeaway: tell your own UIM carrier and get its consent before you sign any release with the other driver's insurer, or you can jeopardize the claim.
The exclusions Rhode Island courts actually enforce
Two Rhode Island Supreme Court decisions from 2026 show where UM/UIM claims get won and lost, and both are worth knowing before you assume you are covered.
In O'Rourke v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., decided June 17, 2026, the Court dealt with the "regular use" exclusion, the clause that denies UM coverage for injuries suffered while occupying a vehicle furnished for your regular use that is not insured for liability under your own policy.4 A Verizon technician was rear-ended in a company bucket truck he drove every workday and made a UM claim on his personal policy; Nationwide denied it under that exclusion. The Court held that whether a vehicle is put to "regular use" is a question of fact for a jury, not something a judge decides as a matter of law, following its earlier decision in Ricci v. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Co.4 If you are hurt in a car you drive often but do not own, the exclusion is not automatic, and you may be entitled to have a jury weigh it.
Roberge v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America, decided May 26, 2026, cut the other way. A state employee driving her own car within the scope of her job was hurt by an underinsured driver and tried to claim UIM under her employer's policy. The employer had selected UM/UIM coverage only for "owned autos," and had rejected UM property damage entirely.5 Answering certified questions from the First Circuit, the Court held that neither its earlier Martinelli decision nor § 27-7-2.1 forced coverage the policy did not provide; where the policy language is unambiguous about which autos and which insureds are covered, Rhode Island courts follow it.5 The lesson is that UM/UIM coverage tracks how the policy defines "covered auto" and "insured," so the specific vehicle you were in matters.
Deadlines you cannot miss
Your claim against the at-fault driver is a personal injury action, and Rhode Island gives you three years from the date of the crash under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14(a).6 A UM/UIM claim is different: it is a contract claim against your own insurer, so the general ten-year limit for civil actions in § 9-1-13(a) is the statutory backstop.7 Do not lean on that longer window. Policies routinely impose their own shorter notice and suit deadlines, and the consent-to-settle rule means you need to involve your UIM carrier early, well before the three-year tort clock runs.
If the crash also damaged your car, the value it loses even after a proper repair is a separate issue covered on our Rhode Island diminished value page, and you can pull the official report through our Rhode Island crash report page. When an insurer is fighting your UM/UIM claim, or you are not sure which policies stack, a Rhode Island attorney can review the coverage; you can find one through our legal directory.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-7-2.1, Uninsured motorist coverage. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE27/27-7/27-7-2.1.HTM
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R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-47-2, Motor Vehicle Reparations Act (required limits). https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE31/31-47/31-47-2.HTM
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Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Insurance Regulation 10, Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Insurance, 230-RICR-20-05-1. https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/230-20-05-1
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O'Rourke v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., No. 2025-16-M.P. (R.I. June 17, 2026). https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2026/06/17/peter_a._orourke_v._nationwide_mutual_insurance_company.pdf
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Roberge v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America, No. 2024-253-M.P. (R.I. May 26, 2026). https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2026/05/26/cynthia_a._roberge_v._travelers_property_casualty_company_of_america.pdf
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R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14, Limitation of actions for personal injury. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/title9/9-1/9-1-14.htm
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R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-13, General limitation of civil actions. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE9/9-1/9-1-13.HTM