H. B. 2983


(By Delegate Butcher)
[Introduced February 26, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then Finance.]




A BILL to amend article twenty, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section eighteen-a, relating to prohibiting automobile insurance rate increases or surcharges for reason of nonserious traffic convictions.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article twenty, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section eighteen-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. RATES AND RATING ORGANIZATIONS.
§33-20-18a. Insurance rates not to be increased for minor traffic violations.
Notwithstanding any conflicting provision of this article, an insurer may not increase motor vehicle liability insurance rates or add surcharges to motor vehicle insurance policies for reason of convictions not included among those serious traffic offenses set forth in article five, chapter seventeen-c of this code.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit insurers from increasing motor vehicle insurance rates or adding surcharges to those policies for minor traffic violations.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.