(a) In any proceeding commenced in any court, commission, or agency for damage to real or personal property, an itemized statement of what portions of the property were repaired or replaced together with the cost of any parts replaced on the property and the value of any labor extended in the repairing or replacement, or an itemized statement of the estimated cost of repairing the damaged property, including the cost of replacement parts and labor, which has been subscribed and sworn to under the penalties of perjury by the person making the repairs or under whose direction the repairs were made, or by the person giving the estimate, or under whose direction the estimate was prepared, shall be admissible as evidence of the fair and reasonable cost of repairing the damage and shall constitute prima facie evidence of the reasonable cost of the repairs thereof; provided, however, that the statement shall contain no reference to the cause of the damage; and, provided further, that written notice of the intention to offer such a statement as evidence, together with a copy thereof, has been given to the opposing party or parties, or to his or her or their attorneys, by mailing the notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, not less than ten (10) days before the introduction of the statement into evidence, and that an affidavit of the notice and the return receipt is filed with the clerk of the court forthwith after the receipt has been returned. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit the right of any party to summon, at his or her own expense, the person subscribing to the statement, for the purpose of cross examination with respect to the statement or to rebut the contents thereof or for any other purpose, nor to limit the right of any party to summon, at his or her own expense, any other person to testify in respect to the statement or for any other purpose, nor to limit the right of any party to summon, at his or her own expense, the business records of any person offering any such statement.
(b) The word "person" as used herein shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, or corporation, or any full time employee thereof, engaged in the business of servicing and repairing property, or regularly performing such services incident to its principal business, or any individual licensed by the insurance commissioner as a motor vehicle damage appraiser pursuant to § 27-10.1-1.
History of Section.
P.L. 1963, ch. 120, § 1; P.L. 1971, ch. 124, § 1; P.L. 1981, ch. 164, § 2; P.L. 1986, ch. 208, § 1; P.L. 1993, ch. 255, § 1.