Senate Bill No. 447
(By Senator Helmick)
____________
[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Banking and Insurance.]
____________

A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article six-a, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the cancellation of automobile liability insurance policies; and permitting movement of policies between companies within the same insurance group.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article six-a, 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 6A. CANCELLATION OR NONRENEWAL OF AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY POLICIES.

§33-6A-2. Cancellation for other reasons void.
Any purported cancellation by an insurer of a policy of automobile liability insurance which has been in effect for sixty days and which has been renewed shall be void if such purported cancellation is contrary to section one of this article.
For purposes of this article, the transfer of a policyholder between companies within the same insurance group is not considered a cancellation or nonrenewal if the transfer is based upon any valid underwriting reason which involves a substantial increase in the risk.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit automobile insurance companies to transfer policyholders to other companies within the same insurance group without the transfer being considered a cancellation of the underlying policy.

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