ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 169
(Senators Bowman, McCabe, Minard, Jenkins, Plymale and Kessler, original
sponsors)
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[Passed February 27, 2007; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT 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 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
require the owner to surrender the certificate of title:
Provided,
That an insured or claimant owner may choose to retain physical
possession and ownership of a 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. 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, 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 surrender the certificate of title, 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.
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 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 (g) of this
section. The division shall charge a fee of fifteen dollars for
each salvage title issued.
(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 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.
(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 fee of five dollars 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 may not be
removed.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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
the Division of Motor Vehicles. 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 shall also be
surrendered to the division before a certificate of title may be
issued with the appropriate brand.
(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. The division shall charge a fee of five dollars for each
title so issued.
(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.
(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. 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.
(k) As used in this section:
(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.
(l) 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.
(m) 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.
(n) Any person who knowingly provides false or fraudulent
information to the division that is required by this section in an application for a title, a cosmetic total loss title, a
reconstructed vehicle title or a salvage certificate
or who
knowingly fails to disclose to the division information required by
this section to be included in the application
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 one thousand dollars nor more than two
thousand five hundred dollars or imprisoned in jail for not more
than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.