Rhode Island General Laws Title 27. Insurance § 27-10.1-6. Conduct of motor vehicle damage appraisers

(a) Each appraiser, while engaged in appraisal duties, shall carry the license issued to that appraiser by the department of business regulation and shall display it, upon request, to an owner whose vehicle is being inspected, to the auto body shop representative involved, or to any authorized representative of the department of business regulation.

(b) The appraiser shall leave a legible copy of his or her appraisal with the auto body shop selected to make the repairs, which appraisal shall contain the name of the insurance company ordering it, if any, the insurance file number, the number of the appraiser's license, and the proper identification number of the vehicle being inspected, and notice in boldface type, reading as follows:

“PURSUANT TO RHODE ISLAND LAW, THE CONSUMER HAS THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE THE REPAIR FACILITY TO COMPLETE REPAIRS TO A MOTOR VEHICLE; AND AN INSURANCE COMPANY MAY NOT INTERFERE WITH THE CONSUMER'S CHOICE OF REPAIRER.” All damage unrelated to the incident or accident that occasioned the appraisal of the vehicle, or old damage, shall be clearly indicated in the appraisal.

(c) The appraiser shall not obtain a competitive estimate from another auto body shop unless the owner of that other shop, or his or her authorized agent, has inspected the vehicle. No competitive estimate shall be obtained by the use of photographs, telephone calls, or in any manner other than a personal inspection.

(d) No appraiser shall request that repairs be made in a specified auto body shop.

(e) Every appraiser shall re-inspect damaged vehicles when supplementary allowances are requested by the auto body shops.

(f) No appraiser shall receive directly or indirectly any gratuity or other consideration in connection with his or her appraisal services from any person except his or her employer, or, if self-employed, his or her customers.

(g) No appraiser shall traffic in automobile salvage if it is obtained in any way as a result of appraisal services rendered by the appraiser.

(h) No appraiser shall obtain an estimate from an unlicensed automobile body repair shop nor shall any appraiser agree on a price for repairing a damaged motor vehicle with an unlicensed automobile body repair shop. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to preclude an appraiser from dealing with any entity not subject to the licensing provisions of § 5-38-4.