R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-7-2

An injured party, or, in the event of that party’s death, the party entitled to sue for that death, in the party’s suit against the insured, shall not join the insurer as a defendant. If the officer serving any process against the insured shall return that process “non est inventus,” or where before suit has been brought and probate proceedings have not been initiated the insured has died, or where a suit is pending against an insured in his or her own name and the insured died prior to judgment, or where a nonresident had been involved in an automobile accident in Rhode Island as an operator or owner and died before suit has been brought, the injured party, and, in the event of that party’s death, the party entitled to sue for that death, may proceed directly against the insurer. The injured party, or, in the event of that party’s death, the party entitled to sue for that death, after having obtained judgment against the insured alone, may proceed on that judgment in a separate action against the insurer; provided, the payment in whole or in part of the liability by either the insured or the insurer shall, to the extent of the payment, be a bar to recovery against the other of the amount paid. The time limitations for filing such actions shall be governed by the provisions of § 9-1-14 as appropriate, including, but not limited to, any extension of the statute of limitations for injuries to the person provided by § 9-1-14(c).