21-27-133 - Owner or operator of motor vehicle for hire must carry liability insurance or bond; actions thereon.
§ 21-27-133. Owner or operator of motor vehicle for hire must carry liability insurance or bond; actions thereon.
No certificate or permit shall be issued by any municipality to the owner or operator of any motor vehicle owned or operated for hire in any city or town in this state, unless and until such owner or operator shall have filed with, and the same has been approved by, the governing authorities of the municipality, an insurance policy, or certificates of insurance in lieu thereof, issued by some insurance company authorized to transact business in this state, or bond or bonds, to be approved by the said governing authorities of the municipality, in an amount required by an ordinance of said municipality, conditioned to pay any final judgment against said owner or operator for personal injuries or property damages resulting from or arising out of the use, maintenance, or operation of the said motor vehicle. The amount of the insurance policy or bond required under this section on any motor vehicle of any such owner or operator shall in no case be less than ten thousand dollars for the death or injury to any one person, and subject to said limit for one person, twenty thousand dollars total public liability for any one accident and ten thousand dollars for property damage.
The insurance policy or bond, filed with the municipality as required by this section, shall contain a provision or indorsement to the effect that the same shall not be cancelled for any cause by either party thereto unless and until ten days' written notice thereof shall have been given to the said municipality.
In any action, whether in law or in equity, against any owner or operator, operating under the provisions of this section, the insurer, insurance company, or obligor in the policy of insurance or bond given by such owner or operator in compliance with this section, shall not be joined as a party to such suit and shall not be a proper party thereto, except as hereinafter provided.
The insurer, insurance company, or obligor, in any policy of insurance or bond filed in compliance with this section, shall be obligated to pay any final judgment obtained against such owner or operator as herein provided, regardless of the solvency, insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership, of such owner or operator. In the event that the insured shall abandon his permit and leave the state, a claimant asserting his claim within the provisions of said insurance policy or bond may file suit against the insurer or insurance company or obligor issuing such insurance policy or executing such bond in a court of competent jurisdiction without the necessity of making the insured a party to said suit.
Sources: Codes, 1942, § 3495.5; Laws, 1958, ch. 506, §§ 1-5, eff July 1, 1958.