North Dakota Code 26.1-40-15.2 – Uninsured motorist coverage
1. No motor vehicle liability insurance policy may be delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state with respect to any specifically insured or identified motor vehicle registered, licensed, and principally garaged in this state unless uninsured motorist coverage is provided therein or supplemental thereto in limits set forth in section 39-16.1-11. Uninsured motorist coverage must pay compensatory damages which an insured is legally entitled to collect for bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death resulting therefrom, or such insured, from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of such uninsured motor vehicle.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 26.1-40-15.2
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Organization: includes a foreign or domestic association, business trust, corporation, enterprise, estate, joint venture, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, limited partnership, partnership, trust, or any legal or commercial entity. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
2. At the request of a named insured, or applicant for insurance, the insurer providing uninsured motorist coverage shall also make available higher limits of uninsured motorist coverage in accordance with its rating plan and rules. The insurer need not provide uninsured motorist coverage limits in excess of the insured’s bodily injury liability limits, or one hundred thousand dollars per person and three hundred thousand dollars per accident, or if consistent with such rating plan and rules, a combined single limit equivalent of three hundred thousand dollars per accident, whichever is less.
3. The maximum liability of the uninsured motorist coverage is the lower of:
a. The amount of compensatory damages established but not recovered by any agreement, settlement, or judgment with or for the person or organization legally liable for the bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death resulting therefrom; or
b. The limits of liability of the uninsured motorist coverage.
4. In any claim for uninsured motorist benefits, the insured and the insurer each bear responsibility for one’s own attorney’s fees incurred unless the insurance contract specifically provides otherwise or the insurance company is found to have acted in bad faith. It is neither a conflict of interest nor bad faith for an insurer to contest and press all defenses that the uninsured motorist could press.