(a)(1)(A) Each automobile liability insurance policy shall provide insurance, herein called uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, in accordance with the regulations adopted pursuant to section 38a-334, with limits for bodily injury or death not less than those specified in subsection (a) of section 14-112, for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages because of bodily injury, including death resulting therefrom, from owners or operators of uninsured motor vehicles and underinsured motor vehicles and insured motor vehicles, the insurer of which becomes insolvent prior to payment of such damages.

1. (B) Each insurer licensed to write automobile liability insurance in this state shall provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage with limits requested by any named insured upon payment of the appropriate premium, provided each such insurer shall offer such coverage with limits that are twice the limits of the bodily injury coverage of the policy issued to the named insured. The insured's selection of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage shall apply to all subsequent renewals of coverage and to all policies or endorsements that extend, change, supersede or replace an existing policy issued to the named insured, unless changed in writing by any named insured.
2. (C) No insurer shall be required to provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to (i) a named insured or relatives residing in the named insured's household when occupying, or struck as a pedestrian by, an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle or a motorcycle that is owned by the named insured, except as provided in subparagraph (D) of this subdivision, or (ii) any insured occupying an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle or motorcycle that is owned by such insured.
3. (D) For each automobile liability insurance policy issued or renewed on or after October 1, 2014, an insurer shall not deny uninsured motorist coverage to a named insured or any relative residing in the named insured's household solely on the basis that the named insured or such relative was struck as a pedestrian by a motor vehicle or motorcycle, during the theft of such motor vehicle or motorcycle, that is owned by the named insured and listed as a covered motor vehicle on the named insured's policy.

4. (2) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, each automobile liability insurance policy issued or renewed on and after January 1, 1994, shall provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage with limits for bodily injury and death equal to those purchased to protect against loss resulting from the liability imposed by law unless any named insured requests in writing a lesser amount, but not less than the limits specified in subsection (a) of section 14-112. Such written request shall apply to all subsequent renewals of coverage and to all policies or endorsements that extend, change, supersede or replace an existing policy issued to the named insured, unless changed in writing by any named insured. No such written request for a lesser amount shall be effective unless any named insured has signed an informed consent form that shall contain:

   1. (A) An explanation of uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance approved by the commissioner; (B) a list of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage options available from the insurer; and (C) the premium cost for each of the coverage options available from the insurer. Such informed consent form shall contain a heading in twelve-point type and shall state: “WHEN YOU SIGN THIS FORM, YOU ARE CHOOSING A REDUCED PREMIUM, BUT YOU ARE ALSO CHOOSING NOT TO PURCHASE CERTAIN VALUABLE COVERAGE WHICH PROTECTS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN ABOUT HOW THIS DECISION WILL AFFECT YOU, YOU SHOULD GET ADVICE FROM YOUR INSURANCE AGENT OR ANOTHER QUALIFIED ADVISER.”
   2. (b) An insurance company shall be obligated to make payment to its insured up to the limits of the policy's uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage after the limits of liability under all bodily injury liability bonds or insurance policies applicable at the time of the accident have been exhausted by payment of judgments or settlements, but in no event shall the total amount of recovery from all policies, including any amount recovered under the insured's uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, exceed the limits of the insured's uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. In no event shall there be any reduction of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage limits or benefits payable (1) for amounts received by the insured for Social Security disability benefits paid or payable pursuant to the Social Security Act, 42 USC Section 301, et seq., or (2) with respect to an automobile liability insurance policy issued or renewed on or after October 1, 2015, (A) for amounts paid by or on behalf of any tortfeasor for bodily injury to anyone other than individuals insured under the policy against which the claim is made, or (B) for amounts paid by or on behalf of any tortfeasor for property damage. The limitation on the total amount of recovery from all policies shall not apply to underinsured motorist conversion coverage purchased pursuant to section 38a-336a.
   3. (c) Each automobile liability insurance policy issued on or after October 1, 1971, that contains a provision for binding arbitration shall include a provision for final determination of insurance coverage in such arbitration proceeding. With respect to any claim submitted to arbitration on or after October 1, 1983, the arbitration proceeding shall be conducted by a single arbitrator if the amount in demand is forty thousand dollars or less or by a panel of three arbitrators if the amount in demand is more than forty thousand dollars.
   4. (d) Regardless of the number of policies issued, vehicles or premiums shown on a policy, premiums paid, persons covered, vehicles involved in an accident, or claims made, in no event shall the limit of liability for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage applicable to two or more motor vehicles covered under the same or separate policies be added together to determine the limit of liability for such coverage available to an injured person or persons for any one accident. If a person insured for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is an occupant of a nonowned vehicle covered by a policy also providing uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, the coverage of the occupied vehicle shall be primary and any coverage for which such person is a named insured shall be secondary. All other applicable policies shall be excess. The total amount of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage recoverable is limited to the highest amount recoverable under the primary policy, the secondary policy or any one of the excess policies. The amount paid under the excess policies shall be apportioned in accordance with the proportion that the limits of each excess policy bear to the total limits of the excess policies. If any person insured for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is an occupant of an owned vehicle, the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage afforded by the policy covering the vehicle occupied at the time of the accident shall be the only uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage available.
   5. (e) For the purposes of this section, an “underinsured motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle with respect to which the sum of the limits of liability under all bodily injury liability bonds and insurance policies applicable at the time of the accident is less than the applicable limits of liability under the uninsured motorist portion of the policy against which claim is made under subsection (b) of this section.
   6. (f) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section 31-284, an employee of a named insured injured while occupying a covered motor vehicle in the course of employment shall be covered by such insured's otherwise applicable uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

   7. (g)

      1. (1) No insurance company doing business in this state may limit the time within which any suit may be brought against it or any demand for arbitration on a claim may be made on the uninsured or underinsured motorist provisions of an automobile liability insurance policy to a period of less than three years from the date of accident, provided, in the case of an underinsured motorist claim the insured may toll any applicable limitation period (A) by notifying such insurer prior to the expiration of the applicable limitation period, in writing, of any claim which the insured may have for underinsured motorist benefits and (B) by commencing suit or demanding arbitration under the terms of the policy not more than one hundred eighty days from the date of exhaustion of the limits of liability under all automobile bodily injury liability bonds or automobile insurance policies applicable at the time of the accident by settlements or final judgments after any appeals.
      2. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection, in the case of an uninsured motorist claim, if the motor vehicle of a tortfeasor is an uninsured motor vehicle because the automobile liability insurance company of such tortfeasor becomes insolvent or denies coverage, no insurance company doing business in this state may limit the time within which any suit may be brought against it or any demand for arbitration on a claim may be made on the uninsured motorist provisions of an automobile liability insurance policy to a period of less than one year from the date of receipt by the insured of written notice of such insolvency of, or denial of coverage by, such automobile liability insurance company.

(1967, P.A. 510, S. 4; 1969, P.A. 202; 1971, P.A. 767; P.A. 79-235; P.A. 82-441, S. 20, 23; P.A. 83-267, S. 2; 83-461; P.A. 85-7; P.A. 86-403, S. 79, 132; P.A. 90-243, S. 127; P.A. 93-77, S. 2, 4; 93-297, S. 1, 29; May 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1, S. 35, 36, 130; P.A. 98-189, S. 1, 2; P.A. 00-143; P.A. 10-5, S. 9; P.A. 14-20, S. 1; 14-71, S. 1; P.A. 15-118, S. 69.)

History: 1969 act added proviso re limited coverage of uninsured motorists requested by insured; 1971 act specified that policies issued on or after October 1, 1971, which contain provision for binding arbitration shall provide for final determination of insurance coverage in arbitration proceedings; P.A. 79-235 added coverage re “underinsured” vehicles and added Subsec. (b), defining “underinsured motor vehicle” and detailing payments which insurance company is obligated to make; P.A. 82-441 amended Subsec. (a) by adding “Such arbitration proceeding shall be conducted by a single arbitrator,” effective July 1, 1983; P.A. 83-267 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for arbitration of any claim submitted on or after October 1, 1983, by panel of three arbitrators if amount in demand exceeds $40,000; P.A. 83-461 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that an insurer is not required to provide uninsured motorist coverage to a named insured or a resident relative who is injured by an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle owned by the named insured, or to any insured injured while occupying an uninsured or underinsured motor vehicle owned by the insured and added Subdiv. (2) requiring uninsured motorist coverage limits to be the same as those purchased to protect against loss resulting from the liability imposed by law unless a different amount is requested in writing by the insured, on every policy issued or renewed on and after July 1, 1984; P.A. 85-7 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that no insurer is required to provide uninsured motorist coverage to an insured occupying an uninsured or underinsured motorcycle owned by the insured, and to clarify the applicability of written requests for less coverage; P.A. 86-403 made technical change in Subsec. (b); P.A. 90-243 added a reference to “each automobile liability insurance policy”, made technical changes for statutory consistency, deleted the numerical Subsec. indicators and substituted alphabetical Subsecs. (b) to (d); Sec. 38-175c transferred to Sec. 38a-336 in 1991; P.A. 93-77 added new Subsec. (e) (designated as (g) by the Revisors because of the relettering of subsections by P.A. 93-297) prohibiting an insurance company limiting the time for bringing suit or demanding arbitration on uninsured or underinsured motorist provisions of a motor vehicle policy to a period of less than three years and specifying the manner in which an insured may toll the limitation period in the case of an underinsured motorist claim, effective May 20, 1993; P.A. 93-297 replaced “uninsured motorist coverage” with “uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage” where appearing, amended Subsec. (a)(1) to replace “the named insured” with “any named insured”, replace the provision that an insurer is not required to provide uninsured motorist coverage with limits in excess of the limits of the bodily injury coverage with provision that requires each insurer to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage with limits that are twice the limits of the bodily injury coverage and add provision that the insured's selection of coverage applies to all subsequent renewals, policies and endorsements unless changed in writing by any named insured, amended Subsec. (a)(2) to change the date from July 1, 1984, to January 1, 1994, replace “the insured” with “any named insured”, add provision that a written request for a lesser amount is not effective unless an informed consent form is signed and specify the contents of such form, amended Subsec. (b) to provide that the limitation on the total amount of recovery from all policies does not apply to underinsured motorist conversion coverage, inserted a new Subsec. (d) to prohibit the aggregation of the limits of liability, specify which policy coverages are primary, secondary and excess and the total amount of recovery thereunder when a person is an occupant of a nonowned vehicle and specify the availability of coverage when a person is an occupant of an owned vehicle, relettered former Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (e) and added Subsec. (f) re coverage of a named insured injured in the course of employment, effective January 1, 1994, and applicable to acts or omissions occurring on or after said date; May 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1 amended Subsecs. (a) and (g) by making technical changes, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 98-189 amended Subsec. (g) by designating existing provisions as Subdiv. (1) and making technical changes thereto and adding new Subdiv. (2) to prohibit an insurance company limiting the time for bringing suit or demanding arbitration on an uninsured motorist claim where the insurance company of the tortfeasor becomes insolvent or denies coverage to a period of less than one year from the date the insured received notice of such insolvency or denial of coverage, effective October 1, 1998, and applicable to insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 1999; P.A. 00-143 amended Subsec. (b) to add provision prohibiting any reduction of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage limits or benefits payable for amounts received by the insured for Social Security disability benefits; P.A. 10-5 made technical changes in Subsec. (a)(2), effective May 5, 2010; P.A. 14-20 amended Subsec. (b) to designate existing provision re prohibition on reduction of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage limits or benefits for Social Security disability benefits paid or payable as Subdiv. (1) and add Subdiv. (2) re prohibition on reduction of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage limits or benefits, with respect to automobile liability insurance policies issued or renewed on or after October 1, 2015, for amounts paid by or on behalf of tortfeasor for bodily injury or property damage, effective October 1, 2015; P.A. 14-71 amended Subsec. (a)(1) to designate existing provision re no insurer required to provide coverage to named insured or relatives as new Subpara. (A), redesignate existing Subparas. (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), add new Subpara. (B) prohibiting denial of uninsured motorist coverage solely on basis that named insured or relative was struck during the theft of insured motor vehicle or motorcycle, and make technical changes, effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to claims arising on or after that date; P.A. 15-118 added provisions to conform with changes made by P.A. 14-71, S. 1, and made technical changes.