In a unanimous answer to a certified question, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island addressed a case of first impression and ruled that the statute of limitations on an Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist claim does not begin to run on Rhode Island UM/UIM claims on the date of the accident. Rather, the statute of limitations on a UM/UIM claim begins to run on the date that the UM/UIM carrier breached its contract of insurance. American State Ins. Co. v. LaFlam, 69 A.3d 831, 839-41 (R.I. 2013).
The Supreme Court went beyond answering the certified question to declaring a contrary limitations period in the insurance contract void as against public policy. American State Ins. Co. v. LaFlam, 69 A.3d 831, 844 (R.I. 2013).
However, the issue of propriety of a contractually shortened UM/UIM limitations period was left open for development in future cases. The Supreme Court was careful to note that "our holding in this case is limited: we need not and do not decide whether an insurance policy may properly contain a shortened time period within which a UM/UIM claim may be brought after the cause of action accrues ...." American State Ins. Co. v. LaFlam, 69 A.3d 831, 845 (R.I. 2013).
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