Senate Bill No. 297
(By Senator Walker)
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[Introduced February 8, 1994; 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-one-e, relating to underinsured motorists' coverage; and permitting an automobile insurer to offer optional nonstackable underinsured motorist coverage with a mandated premium discount of at least twenty percent.

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-one-e, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 6. THE INSURANCE POLICY.

§33-6-31e. Optional nonstackable underinsured motorist coverage.

Insurers using a policy providing coverage to no more than one vehicle may offer optional underinsured motorist coveragecontaining policy provisions, in language approved by the department, establishing that if any named insured accepts this offer:
(a) The coverage provided as to two or more motor vehicles shall not be added together to determine the limit of insurance coverage available to an injured person for any one accident.
(b) If at the time of the accident the injured person is occupying a motor vehicle owned by him or by a family member residing with him, the only underinsured motorist coverage available to him is the coverage available as to that motor vehicle.
(c) If the injured person is occupying a motor vehicle which is not owned by him or a family member residing with him, he is entitled to the highest limits of underinsured motorist coverage afforded for any one vehicle as to which he is a named insured or insured family member.
(d) If, at the time of the accident, the injured person is not occupying a motor vehicle, he is entitled to select any one limit of underinsured motorist coverage for any one vehicle afforded by a policy under which he is insured as a named insured or as an insured resident of the named insured's household.
In connection with the offer authorized by this subsection, insurers shall inform the named insured, applicant or lessee, on a form approved by the department, of the limitations imposed under this subsection and that such coverage is an alternative to coverage without such limitations. If this form is signed by anamed insured, applicant or lessee, it shall be conclusively presumed that there was an informed, knowing acceptance of such limitations. When the named insured, applicant or lessee has initially accepted such limitations, such acceptance shall apply to any policy which renews, extends changes, supersedes or replaces an existing policy unless the named insured requests deletion of such limitations and pays the appropriate premium for such coverage. If the form is not signed by any named insured, applicant or lessee, it shall be conclusively presumed that such coverage is selection coverage without such limitations. Any insurer who provides coverage which includes the limitations provided in this subsection shall file revised premium rates with the department for such underinsured motorist coverage to take effect prior to initially providing such coverage. The revised rates shall reflect the anticipated reduction in loss costs attributable to such limitations but shall in any event reflect a difference in the underinsured motorist coverage premium of at least twenty percent for policies with such limitations compared to policies with the same limits of liability which do not contain such limitations.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit an automobile insurer to offer optional nonstackable underinsured motorist coverage with a mandated premium discount of at least twenty percent. Any insured who has stackable coverage and who does not elect to convert to the coverages authorized in this bill will retain stackable coverage.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.