What is a car accident claim worth in Rhode Island?
Every rule below is quoted from Rhode Island law or a state agency, with a link. Checked September 17, 2026.
The short answer
Nobody can price your claim from a web page, and any site that gives you one number is guessing. What we can show you is real: the amount insurers actually paid per claim in Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island rules that raise or lower what you collect. $16,827 was the average injury claim paid in Rhode Island in 2022.
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Averages come from NAIC 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report. State rules are quoted from Rhode Island law on this site, each with a link.
What claims paid in Rhode Island
Injury claims in Rhode Island averaged $16,827 each in 2022.
Car and property damage claims averaged $6,879.
| Injury claim paid by the at fault driver's insurance | $16,827 |
|---|---|
| Car and property damage | $6,879 |
| Medical payments coverage, paid by your own policy | $2,363 |
| Collision coverage, paid by your own policy | $7,604 |
These are averages of every claim insurers closed, from the largest to the smallest. A claim with a hospital stay sits far above the average, and a fender bender sits far below it.
What changes the number in Rhode Island
If you were partly at fault
Rhode Island uses pure comparative negligence. You can recover money even if you were mostly at fault, for example 90 percent, though your award is reduced by your own percentage of fault. There is no cutoff that bars you from recovering.
“damages shall be diminished by the finder of fact in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the person injured”
The other driver's policy limit is the ceiling
Rhode Island drivers must carry at least $25,000 in liability coverage for one injured person, $50,000 total per accident if more than one person is hurt, and $25,000 for property damage.
“twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) because of bodily injury to, or death of, one person in any one accident”
If the other driver has no insurance
Rhode Island requires every auto policy to include uninsured motorist coverage for bodily injury and death, which cannot be rejected outright, only reduced to the state minimum after signing a notice about the risk. You can reject the property damage part of uninsured motorist coverage in writing.
“No policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for property damage caused by collision, bodily injury, or death...shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state...unless coverage is provided”
The deadline that ends the claim
You have 3 years to sue over injuries from a car crash in Rhode Island.
“Actions for injuries to the person shall be commenced and sued within three (3) years next after the cause of action shall accrue, and not after”
What a lawyer takes if you hire one
Rhode Island has no dollar or percentage cap on personal injury contingency fees. The fee has to be reasonable, and the contingent fee agreement must be in a writing signed by the client.
“A contingent fee agreement shall be in a writing signed by the client and shall state the method by which the fee is to be determined, including the percentage or percentages that shall accrue to the lawyer in the event of settlement, trial or appeal”
Sources on this page
Each one was opened and checked on September 17, 2026.
Know My Claim is not a law firm or a government agency, and this page is not legal advice. Laws change, so check the linked source before you rely on a deadline.