MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Insurance
By: Representative Chism
AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI CONSUMER CHOICE IN UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 83-11-101, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW MOTOR VEHICLE OWNERS THE OPTION OF KNOWINGLY PURCHASING AN ECONOMIC-ONLY POLICY OF UNINSURED MOTORIST BODILY INJURY LIABILITY COVERAGE INSTEAD OF THE TRADITIONAL COVERAGE; TO EXCLUDE CERTAIN COVERAGE FROM THE UNINSURED MOTORIST PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY COVERAGE; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 83-11-102, 83-11-103, 83-11-105, 83-11-107, 83-11-109 AND 83-11-111, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REGARD UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the Mississippi Consumer Choice in Uninsured Motorist Coverage Act.
SECTION 2. Section 83-11-101, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-11-101. (1) (a) No automobile liability insurance policy or contract shall be issued or delivered after January 1, 1967, unless it contains an endorsement or provisions undertaking to pay the insured all sums which he shall be legally entitled to recover as damages for bodily injury or death from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle, within limits which shall be no less than those set forth in the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law, as amended, under provisions approved by the Commissioner of Insurance; however, at the option of the insured, the uninsured motorist limits may be increased to limits not to exceed those provided in the policy of bodily injury liability insurance of the insured or such lesser limits as the insured elects to carry over the minimum requirement set forth by this section or, at the option of the insured, the insured may knowingly reject, in writing and signed by the insured, traditional uninsured motorist coverage and knowingly select, in writing and signed by the insured, economic-only coverage in the manner provided in subsection (1)(b) of this section. The coverage herein required shall not be applicable where any insured named in the policy shall reject the coverage in writing and provided further, that unless the named insured requests such coverage in writing, such coverage need not be provided in any renewal policy where the named insured had rejected the coverage in connection with a policy previously issued to him by the same insurer.
(b) In no event shall the policy limits of an uninsured motorist policy be less than those set forth in the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law, unless economic-only coverage is selected as authorized by this section. "Economic-only" uninsured motorist coverage excludes any loss other than economic loss and includes, but is not limited to, exclusions for pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish and other noneconomic damages otherwise recoverable under the laws of this state. The written and signed selection of the economic-only coverage shall remain valid for the life of the policy and shall not require the completion of a new written and signed selection when a renewal, reinstatement, substitute or amended policy is issued to the same named insured by the same insurer or any of its affiliates. An insured may change the original uninsured motorist selection or rejection on a policy at any time during the life of the policy by submitting a new written and signed selection to the insurer. Any changes to an existing policy, regardless of whether these changes create new coverage, except changes in the limits of liability, do not create a new policy and do not require the completion of a new written and signed uninsured motorist selection. For the purposes of this section, a new policy means an original contract of insurance that an insured enters into through the completion of a proper application. The economic-only coverage provided for under this subsection (1) shall be nonstacking.
(2) (a) No automobile liability insurance policy or contract shall be issued or delivered after January 1, 1980, unless it contains an endorsement or provisions undertaking to pay the insured all sums which he shall be legally entitled to recover as damages for property damage from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle, within limits which shall be no less than those set forth in the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law, as amended, under provisions approved by the Commissioner of Insurance; however, at the option of the insured, the uninsured motorist limits may be increased to limits not to exceed those provided in the policy of property damage liability insurance of the insured or such lesser limits as the insured elects to carry over the minimum requirement set forth by this section. The coverage herein required shall not be applicable where any insured named in the policy shall reject the coverage in writing and provided further, that unless the named insured requests such coverage in writing, such coverage need not be provided in any renewal policy where the named insured had rejected the coverage in connection with a policy previously issued to him by the same insurer.
The property damage provision may provide an exclusion for the first Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) of such property damage; however, the uninsured motorist provision need not insure any liability for property damage, for which loss the policyholder has been compensated by insurance or otherwise.
(b) The coverage provided under this subsection (2) shall not provide protection for any of the following:
(i) Damage where there is no actual physical contact between the covered motor vehicle and an uninsured motor vehicle, unless the injured party can show, by an independent and disinterested witness, that the injury was the result of the actions of the driver of another vehicle whose identity is unknown or who is uninsured or underinsured.
(ii) Loss of use of a motor vehicle.
(iii) Damages which are paid or payable under any other property insurance.
(3) The insured may reject the property damage liability insurance coverage required by subsection (2) and retain the bodily injury liability insurance coverage required by subsection (1), but if the insured rejects the bodily injury liability coverage he may not retain the property damage liability coverage. No insured may have property damage liability insurance coverage under this section unless he also has bodily injury liability insurance coverage under this section.
SECTION 3. Section 83-11-102, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
83-11-102. (1) An insured in an automobile liability policy that covers ten (10) or more vehicles may elect to purchase, and an insurer may offer, single-limit, nonstacking uninsured motorist insurance coverage covering all vehicles listed in the policy for a single amount of uninsured motorist coverage. The single uninsured motorist coverage limit must be in an amount of no less than the liability limits required under the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law for ten (10) vehicles combined. No matter how many vehicles are listed in or covered by the policy, the policy shall provide only one (1) single limit of uninsured motorist coverage to an injured person, or for property damage, or both, for any one (1) accident. The single limit of uninsured motorist coverage provided by the single-limit, nonstacking uninsured motorist insurance coverage may, where appropriate, be aggregated with or stacked with uninsured motorist insurance coverage available from other policies.
(2) In the course of the sale or issuance of single-limit, nonstacking uninsured motorist insurance coverage, insurers shall inform the named insured or applicant, on a form approved by the Department of Insurance, of the limitation on stacking imposed and that such coverage is an alternative to coverage without such limitation, and such form shall be signed by or on behalf of the named insured or applicant. If this form is signed by or on behalf of a named insured or applicant, it is binding upon all persons insured by the uninsured motorist coverage and it shall be presumed that there was an informed, knowing acceptance of such limitation. When the named insured or applicant has initially accepted such limitation on stacking, such acceptance shall apply to any policy from the same insurer, including sister insurers in the same holding company, which renews the coverage, extends the coverage or changes covered vehicles unless and until the named insured requests in writing a change to stackable uninsured motorist coverage. Endorsements to the coverage language that do not change the uninsured motorist coverage language shall not be considered a new policy for purposes of determining whether a new acceptance form is necessary.
SECTION 4. Section 83-11-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
83-11-103. As used in this article:
(a) The term "bodily injury" shall include death resulting from such injury.
(b) The term "insured" shall mean the named insured and, while resident of the same household, the spouse of any such named insured and relatives of either, while in a motor vehicle or otherwise, and any person who uses, with the consent, expressed or implied, of the named insured, the motor vehicle to which the policy applies, and a guest in such motor vehicle to which the policy applies, or the personal representative of any of the above. The definition of the term "insured" given in this section shall apply only to the uninsured motorist portion of the policy.
(c) The term "uninsured motor vehicle" shall mean:
(i) A motor vehicle as to which there is no bodily injury liability insurance; or
(ii) A motor vehicle as to which there is such insurance in existence, but the insurance company writing the same has legally denied coverage thereunder or is unable, because of being insolvent at the time of or becoming insolvent during the twelve (12) months following the accident, to make payment with respect to the legal liability of its insured; or
(iii) An insured motor vehicle, when the liability insurer of such vehicle has provided limits of bodily injury liability for its insured which are less than the limits applicable to the injured person provided under his uninsured motorist coverage; or
(iv) A motor vehicle as to which there is no bond or deposit of cash or securities in lieu of such bodily injury and property damage liability insurance or other compliance with the state financial responsibility law, or where there is such bond or deposit of cash or securities, but such bond or deposit is less than the legal liability of the injuring party; or
(v) A motor vehicle of which the owner or operator is unknown; provided that in order for the insured to recover under the endorsement where the owner or operator of any motor vehicle which causes bodily injury to the insured is unknown, actual physical contact must have occurred between the motor vehicle owned or operated by such unknown person and the person or property of the insured; or
(vi) A motor vehicle owned or operated by a person protected by immunity under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, Title 11, Chapter 46, Mississippi Code of 1972, if the insured has exhausted all administrative remedies under that chapter.
No vehicle shall be considered uninsured that is owned by the United States government and against which a claim may be made under the Federal Tort Claims Act, as amended.
SECTION 5. Section 83-11-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
83-11-105. In the event the owner or operator of the uninsured vehicle causing injury or death is known and action is brought against said owner or operator by the named insured as defined by said policy, then a copy of the process served upon the owner or operator shall also be served by the circuit clerk mailing, registered mail, a copy of the process to the insurance company issuing the policy providing the uninsured motorist coverage as prescribed by law.
If the owner or operator of any motor vehicle which causes bodily injury to the insured be unknown, the insured or someone on his behalf, or in the event of a death claim, someone on behalf of the party having such claim in order for the insured to recover under the endorsement, shall report the accident as required by Section 63-15-9, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 6. Section 83-11-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
83-11-107. An insurer paying a claim under the endorsement or provisions required by Section 83-11-101 or Section 83-11-102 shall be subrogated to the rights of the insured to whom such claim was paid against the person causing such injury, death, or damage to the extent that payment was made, including the proceeds recoverable from the assets of the insolvent insurer. The bringing of an action against the unknown owner or operator, or the conclusion of such an action, shall not constitute a bar to the insured if the identity of the owner or operator who caused the injury or damages complained of becomes known, provided that in any action brought against such owner or operator, the insurance company that has previously made payment as a result of the policyholder's claim against such owner or operator shall be mailed a copy of the summons issued for the defendant or defendants, and that any recovery against such owner or operator shall be paid to the insurance company to the extent that such insurance company paid the named insured in the action brought against such owner or operator, except that such insurance company shall pay its proportionate part of any reasonable costs and expense incurred in connection therewith, including reasonable attorney's fees.
SECTION 7. Section 83-11-109, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
83-11-109. No such endorsement or provisions shall contain a provision requiring arbitration of any claim arising under any such endorsement or provisions. The insured shall not be restricted or prevented in any manner from employing legal counsel or instituting or prosecuting to judgment legal proceedings, but the insured may be required to establish legal liability of the uninsured owner or operator.
SECTION 8. Section 83-11-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
83-11-111. Any policy which grants the coverage required for motor vehicle liability insurance may also grant any lawful coverage in excess of, or in addition to, the coverage specified for a motor vehicle liability policy, and the excess or additional coverage shall not be subject to the provisions of this article, except as otherwise provided in this article. With respect to a policy which grants this excess or additional coverage, the term "motor vehicle liability policy" as used herein shall apply only to that part of the coverage which is required by this article.
Any binder issued pending the issuance of a motor vehicle liability policy shall be considered as fulfilling the requirements for such policy.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.