What is the minimum car insurance required in Rhode Island?

Liability coverage of $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person, $50,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for injury to or destruction of the property of others.

Is uninsured motorist coverage required in Rhode Island?

Effectively yes, unless you reject it. A liability policy cannot be delivered for a vehicle registered or principally garaged in Rhode Island unless uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage is included or expressly rejected. The carrier must offer it at limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits.

What is uninsured motorist property damage, and do I have it?

It is the coverage that repairs your vehicle when an uninsured driver damages it — separate from uninsured motorist bodily injury, which covers injuries. Rhode Island insurers must offer at least $25,000 of it. Whether you have it depends on whether you accepted the offer, so check your declarations page.

If I raise my liability limits, does my uninsured motorist coverage go up too?

Not automatically, but the carrier must offer matching limits. This is the most commonly missed detail on a Rhode Island policy — drivers raise liability and leave UM at the minimum without realising the higher limits were available to them.

Is Rhode Island an at-fault or no-fault state?

Rhode Island is an at-fault state. The driver who caused the crash is responsible for the resulting damage, and their liability coverage pays up to the policy limits.

Rhode Island

Auto insurance in Rhode Island: what’s required, and what isn’t

By Gaby Valencia, Insurance Content Editor

Last verified August 26, 2026

Rhode Island requires 25/50/25 liability coverage, but its more interesting rule is about uninsured motorists. A policy cannot be issued here without UM/UIM bodily injury coverage unless you actively reject it, and the carrier must offer that coverage at limits equal to your liability limits rather than at some lower default. Insurers must separately offer uninsured motorist property damage at $25,000. Rhode Island, in other words, works quite hard to make sure you are covered against other people’s failures.

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What Rhode Island requires you to carry

Minimum liability limits in Rhode Island — 25/50/25
Bodily injury, per person	$25,000
Bodily injury, per accident	$50,000
Property damage, per accident	$25,000

Rhode Island also requires

Uninsured/underinsured motorist — offered at your liability limits, or rejected: Rhode Island does not let a policy be issued without UM/UIM bodily injury coverage unless you reject it. The carrier must offer it at limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits — not at some lower default. If you have never signed a rejection, you have it.
Uninsured motorist property damage must be offered — $25,000 minimum: Separately from bodily injury, Rhode Island insurers must offer uninsured motorist property damage coverage of at least $25,000. This is the coverage that repairs your vehicle when an uninsured driver damages it, and it is distinct from UM bodily injury.

These are floors, not recommendations. Rhode Island sets the minimum a driver may legally carry. It does not assess whether that amount would cover a claim you caused. Anything above your limits is your personal exposure.

How Rhode Island enforces it

Rhode Island requires proof of insurance to register a vehicle and at traffic stops. The requirement is written into the terms on which a policy may be issued at all: state regulation prohibits delivering a liability policy for a vehicle registered or principally garaged in Rhode Island unless UM/UIM coverage is included or expressly rejected.

How rates are set in Rhode Island

Rhode Island is an at-fault state. The driver responsible for a crash is responsible for the resulting injury and property damage, and their liability limits cap what the insurer pays on their behalf.

The Division of Insurance, part of the Department of Business Regulation, regulates carriers and reviews filings. Rhode Island’s auto insurance rating rules are set out in state regulation (230-RICR-20-05-3), with uninsured and underinsured motorist requirements in a separate part (230-RICR-20-05-1).

Because Rhode Island is geographically small and uniformly dense, garaging ZIP does less work here than in most states. More of the difference between quotes comes down to the driver, the vehicle and how each carrier weights them.

Credit-based insurance scores in Rhode Island

Rhode Island permits credit-based insurance scores in rating. Rhode Island is a small market with comparatively few carriers competing actively, which tends to compress the spread between quotes relative to a large state — but it also means leaving a carrier out of your comparison costs you proportionally more here.

What actually moves your premium here

UM/UIM is offered at your liability limits, not at the floor

This is the detail most Rhode Island drivers miss. The carrier must offer uninsured motorist coverage matching your bodily injury limits. If you raise your liability to 100/300, the UM offer should follow it up. Many drivers raise liability and leave UM at the minimum without realising they had the choice.

Density without a large metro

Rhode Island is the most densely populated state after New Jersey but has no genuinely large city. The result is high traffic density statewide rather than a sharp metro-versus-rural split — the intra-state spread is narrower here than in almost any other state, so a state-level average is actually somewhat informative.

Coastal exposure sits on comprehensive

Rhode Island’s coastline means wind, flood and storm surge exposure that lands on comprehensive coverage for vehicles. Liability-only policies cover none of it, which matters in a state where a large share of the population lives near water.

A small market rewards comparing more, not less

Fewer active carriers means fewer quotes to gather — but it also means each one you skip is a larger fraction of the available market. The effort of comparing is lower here and the cost of not doing it is higher.

See what you’d be matched with in Rhode Island

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Comparing carriers in Rhode Island

When you raise your liability limits, check what happened to the UM/UIM offer alongside them. Rhode Island requires the carrier to offer matching limits, but the offer is only useful if you notice it — this is the most commonly missed opportunity on a Rhode Island policy.

Ask specifically about uninsured motorist property damage. It is a separate coverage from UM bodily injury, insurers must offer at least $25,000 of it, and it is what repairs your car when an uninsured driver hits it.

One habit matters more than any single carrier choice: re-check every year or two, and again after anything that changes your risk profile — a move across town, a new vehicle, a driver added or removed, or a violation ageing off your record. Carriers re-weight their rating factors continuously, so the one that priced you best three years ago is often not the one that prices you best today.

If you need an SR-22 in Rhode Island

Rhode Island requires proof of financial responsibility to be filed after certain suspensions, including driving uninsured and DUI convictions. Your insurer files it with the Division of Motor Vehicles. Confirm the period that applies to your case with the RI DMV, since it runs from your reinstatement date.

Rhode Island auto insurance FAQ

What is the minimum car insurance required in Rhode Island?: Liability coverage of $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person, $50,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for injury to or destruction of the property of others.
Is uninsured motorist coverage required in Rhode Island?: Effectively yes, unless you reject it. A liability policy cannot be delivered for a vehicle registered or principally garaged in Rhode Island unless uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage is included or expressly rejected. The carrier must offer it at limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits.
What is uninsured motorist property damage, and do I have it?: It is the coverage that repairs your vehicle when an uninsured driver damages it — separate from uninsured motorist bodily injury, which covers injuries. Rhode Island insurers must offer at least $25,000 of it. Whether you have it depends on whether you accepted the offer, so check your declarations page.
If I raise my liability limits, does my uninsured motorist coverage go up too?: Not automatically, but the carrier must offer matching limits. This is the most commonly missed detail on a Rhode Island policy — drivers raise liability and leave UM at the minimum without realising the higher limits were available to them.
Is Rhode Island an at-fault or no-fault state?: Rhode Island is an at-fault state. The driver who caused the crash is responsible for the resulting damage, and their liability coverage pays up to the policy limits.

Sources

Requirements on this page were verified against Rhode Island’s own regulator and motor vehicle agency on the date shown at the top. Rules change — if you are making a decision that turns on an exact figure, confirm it at the source.

Consumer help in Rhode Island: Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Insurance Division, (401) 462-9520.