sb17 intr

Senate Bill No. 17
(By Senator Helmick)
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[Introduced February 14, 2001; referred to the Committee on Banking and Insurance.]
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A BILL to amend article seventeen, 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 thirteen, relating to flood insurance coverage;

and requiring insurers to provide notice of availability of

federal flood insurance coverage to named insureds on a form

prescribed by the insurance commissioner.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That article seventeen, 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 thirteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 17. FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE.

§33-17-13. Notice of federal flood insurance coverage; form for providing notice of federal flood insurance coverage.

(a) Beginning the first day of October, two thousand one, all insurers issuing policies providing fire insurance on real property situate in West Virginia shall provide notification of availability of federal flood insurance coverage to the named insured at the time of initial application and upon any request by the named insured.

(b) The notice of availability of federal flood insurance coverage shall be offered to the named insured pursuant to subsection (a) of this section on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The form must allow any named insured to waive any or all of the coverage offered.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require insurers providing fire insurance coverage on real property located in West Virginia to provide notification of availability of federal flood insurance coverage to named insureds at the time of initial application and upon request by the named insured. This bill also requires the notice of availability of federal flood insurance coverage to be offered to named insureds on a form to be prescribed by the insurance commissioner. The named insured may waive any or all of the coverage offered.

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