COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 169
(By Senators Bowman, McCabe, Minard, Jenkins, Plymale and
Kessler)
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[Originating in the Committee on Banking and Insurance;
reported January 31, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-4-10 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to salvage certificates for certain
wrecked vehicles; allowing vehicle owners to retain certain
vehicles declared totaled; requiring the surrender of title
and registration certificate; eliminating the special revenue
account; increasing criminal penalties; and clarifying certain
definitions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-4-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. TRANSFERS OF TITLE OR INTEREST.
§17A-4-10. Salvage certificates for certain wrecked or damaged
vehicles; fee; penalty.
(a) In the event a motor vehicle is determined to be a total
loss or otherwise designated as "totaled" by any insurance company
or insurer, and upon payment of
an agreed price as a claim
settlement a total loss claim to any insured or claimant owner for
the purchase of the vehicle, the insurance company or the insurer,
as a condition of the payment, shall
receive require the owner to
surrender the certificate of title:
and the vehicle except that
Provided, That an insured or claimant owner may choose to retain
physical possession
and ownership of a
cosmetically damaged total
loss vehicle.
If the vehicle owner chooses to retain the vehicle
and the vehicle has not been determined to be a cosmetic total loss
in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, the insurance
company or insurer shall also require the owner to surrender the
vehicle registration certificate. as provided in subdivision (2)
of this subsection. The term "total loss" means a motor vehicle
which has sustained damages equivalent to seventy-five percent or
more of the market value as determined by a nationally accepted
used car value guide
or meets the definition of a flood-damaged
vehicle as defined in this section.
(b) The insurance company or insurer shall,
within ten days
prior to the payment of the total loss claim, determine if the
vehicle is repairable, cosmetically damaged or nonrepairable.
Within ten days of payment of the total loss claim, the insurance
company or insurer shall and surrender the certificate of title,
and a copy of the claim settlement,
a completed application on a
form prescribed by the commissioner and the registration certificate if the owner has chosen to keep the vehicle to the
Department of Motor Vehicles.
(c) If the insurance company or insurer determines that the
vehicle is repairable, the division shall issue a "salvage
certificate", on a form prescribed by the commissioner, in the name
of the insurance company or the insurer
or the vehicle owner if the
owner has chosen to retain the vehicle. The certificate shall
contain on the reverse thereof spaces for one successive assignment
before a new certificate at an additional fee is required.
(1)
Upon the sale of the vehicle, the insurance company or insurer
or
the vehicle owner if the owner has chosen to retain the vehicle
shall
endorse complete the assignment of ownership on the salvage
certificate and deliver it to the purchaser. The vehicle shall not
be titled or registered for operation on the streets or highways of
this state unless there is compliance with subsection
(c) (g) of
this section. The division shall charge a fee of fifteen dollars
for each salvage title issued.
(2) (d) If the insurance company or insurer determines the
damage to a totaled vehicle is exclusively cosmetic and no repair
is necessary in order to legally and safely operate the motor
vehicle on the roads and highways of this state, the insurance
company or insurer shall upon payment of the claim
settlement
submit the certificate of title to the division.
Neither the
insurance company nor the division may require the vehicle owner to
surrender the registration certificate in the event of a cosmetic
total loss settlement.
(A) (1) The division shall, without further inspection, issue
a title branded "cosmetic total loss" to the insured or claimant
owner if the insured or claimant owner wishes to retain possession
of the vehicle, in lieu of a "salvage certificate".
The division
shall charge A a fee of five dollars
shall be charged for each
"cosmetic total loss" title issued. The terms "cosmetically
damaged" and "cosmetic total loss" do not include any vehicle which
has been damaged by flood or fire. The designation "cosmetic total
loss" on a title
cannot may not be
changed removed.
(B) (2) If the insured or claimant owner elects not to take
possession of the vehicle and the insurance company or insurer
retains possession, the division shall issue a cosmetic total loss
salvage certificate to the insurance company or insurer. The
division shall charge a fee of fifteen dollars for each cosmetic
total loss salvage certificate issued. The division shall, upon
surrender of the cosmetic total loss salvage certificate issued
under the provisions of this paragraph and payment of the five
percent privilege tax on the fair market value of the vehicle as
determined by the commissioner, issue a title branded "cosmetic
total loss" without further inspection.
(3) (e) If the insurance company or insurer determines that
the damage to a totaled vehicle renders it nonrepairable, incapable
of safe operation for use on roads and highways and which has no
resale value except as a source of parts or scrap, the insurance
company or vehicle owner shall,
in the manner prescribed by the
commissioner, request that the division issue a nonrepairable motor vehicle certificate in lieu of a salvage certificate. The division
shall issue a nonrepairable motor vehicle certificate without
charge.
(b) (f) Any owner who scraps, compresses, dismantles or
destroys a vehicle for which a certificate of title, nonrepairable
motor vehicle certificate or salvage certificate has been issued
shall, within twenty days, surrender the certificate of title,
nonrepairable motor vehicle certificate or salvage certificate to
the division for cancellation. Any person who purchases or
acquires a vehicle as salvage or scrap, to be dismantled,
compressed or destroyed, shall within twenty days surrender the
certificate to the division.
(c) (g) If the motor vehicle is a "reconstructed vehicle" as
defined in
this section or section one, article one of this
chapter, it may not be titled or registered for operation until it
has been inspected by an official state inspection station and by
a representative of the Division of Motor Vehicles.
who has been
designated by the commissioner as an investigator Following an
approved inspection, an application for a new certificate of title
may be submitted to the division; however, the applicant shall be
required to retain all receipts for component parts, equipment and
materials used in the reconstruction. The salvage certificate
must
shall also be surrendered to the division before a certificate of
title may be issued
with the appropriate brand.
(d) (h) The owner or title holder of any motor vehicle titled
in this state which has previously been branded in this state or another state as "salvage", "reconstructed", "cosmetic total loss",
"cosmetic total loss salvage", "flood" or "fire" or an equivalent
term under another state's laws shall, upon becoming aware of the
brand, apply for and receive a title from the Division of Motor
Vehicles on which the brand "reconstructed", "salvage", "cosmetic
total loss", "cosmetic total loss salvage", "flood" or "fire" is
shown.
A The division shall charge a fee of five dollars
will be
charged for each title so issued.
(e) (i) If application is made for title to a motor vehicle,
the title to which has previously been branded "reconstructed",
"salvage", "cosmetic total loss", "cosmetic total loss salvage",
"flood" or "fire" by the Division of Motor Vehicles under this
section and said application is accompanied by a title from another
state which does not carry the brand, the division shall, before
issuing the title, affix the brand "reconstructed", "cosmetic total
loss", "cosmetic total loss salvage", "flood" or "fire" to the
title. The privilege tax paid on a motor vehicle titled as
"reconstructed", "cosmetic total loss", "flood" or "fire" under the
provisions of this section shall be based on fifty percent of the
fair market value of the vehicle as determined by a nationally
accepted used car value guide to be used by the commissioner.
(f) (j) The division shall charge a fee of fifteen dollars for
the issuance of each salvage certificate or cosmetic total loss
salvage certificate but shall not require the payment of the five
percent privilege tax. However, upon application for a certificate
of title for a reconstructed, cosmetic total loss, flood or fire damaged vehicle, the division shall collect the five percent
privilege tax on the fair market value of the vehicle as determined
by the commissioner unless the applicant is otherwise exempt from
the payment of such privilege tax. A wrecker/dismantler/rebuilder
licensed by the division is exempt from the
payment of the five
percent privilege tax upon titling a reconstructed vehicle. The
division shall collect a fee of thirty-five dollars per vehicle for
inspections of reconstructed vehicles.
These fees shall be
deposited in a special fund created in the State Treasurer's office
and may be expended by the division to carry out the provisions of
this article. Licensed wreckers/dismantlers/rebuilders may charge
a fee not to exceed twenty-five dollars for all vehicles owned by
private rebuilders which are inspected at the place of business of
a wrecker/dismantler/rebuilder.
(1) "Reconstructed vehicle" means the vehicle was totaled
under the provisions of this section or by the provisions of
another state or jurisdiction and has been rebuilt in accordance
with the provisions of this section or in accordance with the
provisions of another state or jurisdiction or meets the provisions
of subsection (m), section one, article one of this chapter.
(2) "Flood-damaged vehicle" means that the vehicle was
submerged in water to the extent that water entered the passenger
or trunk compartment.
(k) Every vehicle owner shall comply with the branding
requirements for a totaled vehicle whether or not the owner
receives an insurance claim settlement for a totaled vehicle.
(g) (l) A certificate of title issued by the division for a
reconstructed vehicle shall contain markings in bold print on the
face of the title that it is for a reconstructed, flood- or fire-
damaged vehicle.
(m) Any person who
knowingly provides false or fraudulent
information to the division, who knowingly fails to disclose to the
division information required by this section to be included in an
application for a title, a cosmetic total loss title, a
reconstructed vehicle title or a salvage certificate or who
otherwise violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall
for each
incident be fined not less than
five hundred dollars nor more than
one thousand dollars
nor more than two thousand five hundred
dollars, or imprisoned in
the county jail for not more than one
year, or both fined and imprisoned.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that insurance
companies must obtain the title to a totaled vehicle when they pay
a claim to an insured or claimant. The bill also includes
provisions that allow vehicle owners to retain possession of
rebuildable vehicles, that eliminates the special revenue account
and that make certain technical clarifications and corrections.
Finally, the bill also increases criminal penalties.
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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