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Hardguittini v. City of Providence12/17/2003
ld that the statutory requirement of the insured claimant providing its UIM carrier with at least some minimal identifying information concerning the alleged hit-and-run driver before receiving UIM benefits for a property-damage claim was valid. Id. at 554. Here, in contrast to McVicker, the insured readily could have obtained the necessary identifying information to establish the insured status of the alleged tortfeasor and his vehicle. In this case, however, he mistakenly relied solely upon the police to prepare a report that would contain this information -- a report which the police apparently lost or misplaced. Moreover, operators of motor vehicles, such as Herwin, who were involved in an accident that caused damages in excess of $500 are obliged to report information concerning the accident to the Division of Motor Vehicles within twenty-one days of the accident. G.L. 1956 ยง 31-33-1. Thus, given this independent statutory duty for motorists to obtain and report information about the other vehicle involved in an accident, it was unreasonable for plaintiffs to rely solely on the police to obtain and record the other driver's identifying information.
Thus, this case is factually closer to Ladouceur, 682 A.2d at 470-71, in which we declined to extend the benefits of UIM coverage to an insured who had the opportunity, but failed, to obtain identifying information concerning the alleged tortfeasors. This failure resulted in the insured's inability to prove that the other driver or the vehicle's owner were uninsured or underinsured. Even though this insured may not be guilty of exactly the same type of inaction or oversight as the plaintiff in Ladouceur, the resulting prejudice to the insurer is the same. Consequently, we are of the opinion that the reasoning of this Court in Ladouceur and McVicker controls the outcome of the present case.
Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.
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