Senate Bill No. 527
(By Senators Yoder, Unger, Facemyer, Sharpe, Fanning, Hunter,
Prezioso, Boley, Chafin, Kessler, Edgell, Minear, Weeks, Sprouse,
Bailey, Barnes, Lanham, Bowman, Love, Caruth, Harrison, Deem,
Guills, Helmick, McKenzie, Oliverio, Minard, Plymale,
Dempsey and Foster)
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[Introduced March 14, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Banking and Insurance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §33-4-21, relating to
requiring written disclosure information for consumers of
insurance who apply for homeowner's insurance with an agent
and who are denied coverage by an insurance company.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §33-4-21, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 4. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§33-4-21. Required disclosure of information for persons denied
homeowner's insurance coverage.
(a) Any time that a person is denied coverage by an insurance
company when he or she applies for homeowner's insurance, the insurance company shall, upon request of the applicant and payment
of a fee, disclose the following information:
(1) All factors considered in denying coverage, including any
derogatory or adverse information considered;
(2) The specific reasons and basis for denial; and
(3) Whether the applicant can take any corrective action that
would qualify the applicant for insurance coverage with the company
denying coverage.
(b) In order to implement and further define the specific
requirements of this section, and determine a reasonable fee which
covers the cost of paperwork and time spent in making the
disclosure, the Insurance Commissioner shall propose rules for
legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to
require that insurance
companies
disclose to persons denied homeowner's insurance policies
certain information
regarding why the coverage was denied.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.