Senate Bill No. 13
(By Senator Rowe)
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[Introduced January 8, 2003; referred to the Committee on Banking
and then to the Committee on Insurance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-one-e, article six,
chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
settlements under underinsured motorist coverage; reducing the
time an underinsured motor vehicle insurance carrier has to
approve or disapprove a liability settlement; and allowing an
assigned claim number to be used in notice of settlement in
lieu of a policy number.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-one-e, 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.
§33-6-31e. Notice of proposed settlement for policy limits to
underinsured motorist coverage carrier; waiver of subrogation; time limits.
(a) When an automobile liability insurer indemnifying a
tortfeasor offers to pay its full policy limits of coverage for
bodily injury or death to a claimant in a claim involving a motor
vehicle accident, conditioned upon an underinsured motorist
coverage carrier waiving its rights of subrogation against the
tortfeasor, then the claimant or the liability insurer indemnifying
the tortfeasor may give to the underinsured motorist coverage
carrier notice in writing that an offer to settle for policy limits
has been made by the liability insurer indemnifying the tortfeasor.
(b) The notice shall be in writing and sent by certified mail,
return receipt requested, to the underinsured motorist coverage
carrier, and it shall state plainly the following information:
(1) The name and address of the underinsured motorist coverage
claimant;
(2) The name and address of the person in whose name the
underinsured motorist coverage is written;
(3) The policy number of the policy under which the
underinsured motorist coverage is written or a claim number
assigned to the claim at issue for the underinsured motorist
coverage;
(4) The name of the tortfeasor;
(5) The name of the insurance company and the policy number
for the insurance policy indemnifying the tortfeasor or a claim number assigned to the claim at issue for the liability coverage
under which an offer to settle for policy limits has been made;
(6) A statement that the company indemnifying the tortfeasor
has offered to settle with the claimant for policy limits,
conditioned upon the waiver by the underinsured motorist coverage
carrier of its subrogation rights against the tortfeasor; and
(7) A statement that under the law the underinsured motorist
coverage carrier has sixty thirty days to preserve its subrogation
rights against the tortfeasor by providing written notice of its
intention to do so and by paying to the claimant an amount equal to
the policy limits that have been offered to the claimant by the
liability insurance company indemnifying the tortfeasor.
(c) The underinsured motorist coverage carrier is considered
to have fully waived its rights of subrogation against the
tortfeasor, unless within sixty thirty days from receipt of the
notice described in subsection (b) above, the underinsured motorist
coverage carrier sends in writing by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to the claimant and to the liability insurer
indemnifying the tortfeasor written notice that it does not waive
its rights of subrogation against the tortfeasor. This notice is
not effective unless the notice to the claimant is accompanied by
payment to the claimant of an amount equal to the policy limits
which had been offered by the liability insurance company
indemnifying the tortfeasor. If the underinsured motorist carrier fails to send the notice provided for in this subsection or fails
to pay the sum required by this subsection within the time
specified, then the underinsured motorist coverage carrier is
considered to have waived its subrogation rights against the
tortfeasor, and the claimant may proceed to consummate the
settlement about which notice had been provided, as set forth in
subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
(d) If the underinsured motorist carrier gives notice and
tenders the payment, as required in subsection (c) of this section,
then the underinsured motorist carrier is and remains subrogated to
the rights of the claimant as to the tortfeasor to the extent of
any and all sums paid by the underinsured motorist carrier to the
claimant, as provided under current law. The payment by the under
insured motorist coverage carrier of the amount equal to the policy
limits offered by the liability insurer indemnifying the
tortfeasor, as provided for in this section, shall does not serve
in any way to waive, change or increase the amount of the
applicable underinsured motorist coverage beyond the underlying
underinsured motorist coverage policy limits.
(e) The provisions of this section shall apply only to written
notices sent to underinsured motorist coverage carriers on or after
the effective date of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reduce the time an
underinsured motor vehicle insurance carrier has to approve or
disapprove a liability settlement, from 60 to 30 days and allowing
an assigned claim number to be used in the notice of settlement in
lieu of a policy number.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.