ENGROSSED

Senate Bill No. 593

(By Senators Minard and Kessler)

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[Introduced February 14, 2002; referred to the Committee

on Banking and Insurance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-three, article six, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the use of used car guides that are approved by the West Virginia insurance commissioner for setting the minimum value of motor vehicles involved in total loss claims.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-three, article six, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. THE INSURANCE POLICY.

§33-6-33. Value of motor vehicle involved in claim.
Insurance companies doing business in this state shall use the most recent publication of an "official used car guide" approved by the insurance commissioner as a guide for setting the minimum value of any motor vehicle involved in a claim settlement arising from a motor vehicle accident. In addition to any cash settlement value so agreed to by the claimant, there shall be added an amount equal to five percent of such the cash settlement value so established as reimbursement to the claimant for the excise tax imposed under section four, article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia.