Senate Bill No. 479
(By Senator Helmick)
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[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Banking and Insurance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article six-a, chapter
thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to cancellation or
nonrenewal of automobile liability insurance policies; and
providing that such cancellation notices may include the
amount of premium due.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, 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-3. Insurer to specify reasons for cancellation;
immunity from liability or suit.
In every instance in which a policy or contract of automobile liability insurance which has been in effect sixty days or which
has been renewed is canceled by the insurer, such the insurer or
its duly authorized agent shall, in the notice of cancellation or
at the written request of the named insured, specify the reason
or reasons relied upon by such the insurer for such the
cancellation. Such These reasons shall be stated in a written
notice and shall, if not provided in the notice of cancellation,
be made within thirty days after such the request: Provided,
however, That there shall be no liability on the part of, and no
cause of action shall arise against, any insurer or its agents or
its authorized investigative sources for any statements made with
probable cause by such the insurer, agent or investigative source
in such a written notice required to be given pursuant to this
section. A notice of cancellation for nonpayment of premium is
not void on the grounds that the notice includes the amount of
premium due or the date by which payment was to be paid.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit automobile
insurance companies to include and display the amount of premium
due and the payment due date in their cancellation notices
without rendering such notices void.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.