Senate Bill No. 484

(By Senators Minard, Jenkins, Rowe, Sharpe, Minear and Ross)

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[Introduced February 11, 2003; referred to the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article twenty, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the types of entities that are governed by said article.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article twenty, 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 20. RATES AND RATING ORGANIZATIONS.
§33-20-2. Scope of article.
(a) This article applies to fire, marine, casualty and surety insurance on risks or operations in this state.
(b) This article shall not apply:
(1) To reinsurance, other than joint reinsurance to the extent stated in section eleven of this article;
(2) To life or accident and sickness insurance;
(3) To insurance of vessels or craft, their cargoes, marine builders' risks, marine protection and indemnity or other risks commonly insured under marine, as distinguished from inland marine, insurance policies;
(4) To insurance against loss of or damage to aircraft, including their accessories and equipment, or against liability, other than workers' compensation and employer's liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of aircraft;
(5) To title insurance;
(5) To malpractice insurance insofar as the provisions of this article directly conflict and thereby are supplanted by article twenty-b of this chapter.
(c) If any kind of insurance, subdivision or combination thereof, or type of coverage, is subject to both the provisions of this article expressly applicable to casualty and surety insurance and to those expressly applicable to fire and marine insurance, the commissioner may apply to filings made for such kind of insurance the provisions of this article which are in his judgement most suitable.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make title insurance subject to rate filings.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.)

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BANKING AND INSURANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENT


On page one, by striking out the title and substituting therefor a new title, to read as follows:
Eng. Senate Bill No. 484--A Bill to amend and reenact section two, article twenty, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the types of entities that are governed by said article; and providing for rate regulation of title insurers.