Senate Bill No. 309
(By Senator Minard)
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[Introduced March 8, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Banking and Insurance.]
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A BILL to amend article six, chapter thirty-three of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
thirty-six, relating to insurance policies; and the
continuation of coverage under automobile liability
policies.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six, chapter thirty-three of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
thirty-six, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. THE INSURANCE POLICY.
§33-6-36. Continuation of coverage under an automobile liability
policy.
The named insured, spouse or dependent child covered by an
automobile liability policy for a period of two or more years is,
upon his or her request, entitled to his or her own individualautomobile insurance policy through the same insurer and to the
continued protections afforded by sections one and four, article
six-a of this chapter. An insurer shall give the insured at
least thirty days prior notice in the case of a cancellation,
forty-five days prior notice in the case of a nonrenewal and
thirty days prior notice in the case of any other termination of
coverage of the insured's right to request a policy pursuant to
the requirements of this section, unless the cancellation or
nonrenewal are based upon the grounds set forth in sections one
or four, article six-a of this chapter. Nothing in this section
may be construed to in any way limit or restrict the protections
presently afforded to insureds pursuant to the provisions of
section one and four, article six-a of this chapter. When the
insured makes a request for a policy as provided in this section,
the original policy shall be split into two or more separate but
equal policies within the same company or tier rating each
providing the same coverage as the original policy, unless the
insured elects to increase or decrease the coverage of his or her
own policy, in which case he or she shall be permitted to do so.
The coverage may be canceled or nonrenewed by the insurer only
for the reasons set forth in sections one or four, article six-a
of this chapter. Upon the establishment of the new policy, the
insurer shall send all notifications to the named insured of the
new policy that any named insured would normally receive. The
notifications must be appropriate to the new policy and shall be
completely independent from the original policy.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that all
persons who have been insured for two or more years under an
automobile liability policy are entitled to continue that
coverage absent the reasons for nonrenewal or cancellation set
forth in existing West Virginia code §§33-6A-1 and 33-6A-4 and
that they are entitled to do so regardless of any changes in
household or marital status.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.