We have a claim in Rhode Island involving a tree on the insured property that fell and damaged a very small portion of siding on the risk. The siding is over thirty years old and no longer available. Rhode Island regulations require we replace all of the siding on the entire house. The policy limits coverage due to ordinance and law to 10 percent. Would these limits apply in this case?

Rhode Island Subscriber

You have an interesting situation. While Rhode Island statutes state that all the siding must be replaced, and that is an ordinance or law, it does not necessarily mean that only the ordinance or law provision applies. The provision is for the increased costs incurred due to the ordinance. However, if this is a replacement cost policy, all the siding should be replaced, as otherwise you have not restored the insured to his preloss condition—that of having matching siding. Therefore, ordinance and law provisions should not be invoked because this is how the claim should be settled to begin with, outside of any regulations. The regulation itself agrees with this logic, as follows: