Topic:
AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE; MOTOR VEHICLE DEPARTMENT; STATISTICAL INFORMATION;
Location:
INSURANCE - MOTOR VEHICLE;

OLR Research Report


December 22, 2005

 

2005-R-0777

COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE INSURANCE POLICY CANCELLATION NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS IN OTHER STATES

By: Janet L. Kaminski, Associate Legislative Attorney

You asked what information Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia require insurance companies to report to the states’ motor vehicle departments upon cancellation of a motor vehicle liability insurance policy on a vehicle with a commercial registration.

SUMMARY

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia require insurance companies that issue motor vehicle insurance policies to report information to the state motor vehicle agency or a similar agency for the purpose of identifying uninsured vehicles. (New Mexico requires motor carriers to report. ) While many of the above states require an insurer to report information about a policy cancellation, nine require information for all policies issued or modified (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia).

Table 1 details the frequency with which an insurer must report and the penalty imposed for not complying. Table 2 outlines which actions trigger the reporting requirement and what data must be filed. Table 3 provides the statutory and regulatory references for the information in Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1: Reporting Frequency and Penalty

State

Reporting Frequency

Penalty for

Non-Compliance

Arizona

Once each business week

Up to $ 250 per day of non-compliance

Arkansas

Before the seventh day of each month

Up to $ 250 per day of non-compliance

Colorado

• Within 10 days immediately following cancellation

• If insurer has any policies in place for the preceding six months, once every week (i. e. , book-of-business)

Repealed, effective July 1, 2006, unless the state motorist insurance identification database program is extended beyond that date.

Up to $ 250 per day of non-compliance with book-of-business reporting requirement

Florida

• Within 45 days from the effective date of a renewal, cancellation, or non-renewal

• Within 30 days of issuing or challenging a policy to a named insured not previously insured by the insurer during that calendar year

Law is repealed effective October 1, 2007.

Violation of the insurance code (penalty amount not specified).

Louisiana

• Within 45 calendar days for cancellation of a policy issued to a motor carrier (15 business days for non-motor carrier)

• Within 15 business days of policy issuance

$ 50 penalty per policy for non-compliance

Maine

• At least 30 days notice of cancellation of policy covering any motor vehicle for rent, lease, hire, or livery

• Immediately upon cancellation for policy covering other vehicles

(none specified)

Maryland

• Within 45 days of termination or lapse of a policy covering a vehicle registered as Class B (for hire).

• Immediately upon termination or lapse of policy covering other vehicles.

Exceptions: Reporting requirement does not apply when the insured does not renew the policy, requests policy cancellation, or deletes a vehicle from a policy if there is a valid reason for doing so (e. g. moves out-of-state, trades vehicle to car dealer, vehicle is total loss following accident, vehicle is in storage).

(none specified)

Massachusetts

Immediately upon the intended effective date of the cancellation.

(none specified)

Nevada

• At least 10 days before the policy cancellation or termination.

• On or before the 15th day of the month, report policies issued, amended, or terminated in the previous month. Amended includes the addition or removal of a vehicle or driver from the policy. Terminated includes the expiration and non-renewal of a policy and the cancellation of a policy by the insurer, whether the expiration, termination, or cancellation applies to one or all of the vehicles under the policy.

DMV notifies the insurance commissioner of any insurer that fails to comply or provides false, incomplete, or misleading information.

DMV considers an insurer non-compliant if it fails to report twice within a 12-month period. DMV will not provide a non-compliant insurer with information regarding any driver’s license or vehicle registration until the insurer submits the reports required.

(none specified)

New Mexico

30 days before policy expiration, motor carrier must report information (not insurer)

(none specified)

New York

• Within 30 days of policy cancellation or other termination

• Within seven days of the policy effective date for a policy issuance

(none specified)

Oregon

• Within 30 days of policy cancellation or non-renewal

• Within 15 days of policy issuance

(none specified)

Utah

Before the seventh day of each month

Up to $ 250 per day of non-compliance

Virginia

Monthly

(none specified)

Table 2: Reportable Activities and Data Reported

State

Reportable Activity

Data Specifications

Arizona

• Cancellation

• Non-renewal

• Policy issued

• Vehicle added or deleted

• Policy reinstatement

• Vehicle identification number - VIN (except if a commercial policy that provides automatic coverage for additional and newly acquired vehicles until the policy’s expiration date)

• Make and year of each vehicle

• Cancellation date

• Policy number

• NAIC insurer code

• Named insured

• Insured’s address

Arkansas

Each insurance policy in effect as of the previous month that was issued by the insurance company

• Name, birth date, and driver’s license number of each insured owner or operator

• Named insured’s address

• Make, year, and VIN of each vehicle

• Policy number, effective date, and expiration date

Colorado

• Cancellation

• Policy issued

For cancellations:

• Written notice (further details not specified).

For policy book-of-business:

• Name, birth date, and driver’s license number, and address of each insured owner or operator

• Make, year, and VIN of each vehicle

• Policy number, effective date, and expiration date

Rules may be adopted to require different information on commercial insurance.

Florida

• Cancellation

• Non-renewal

• Renewal

• Policy issued or changed

• Insurer’s company code (i. e. , the code issued by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners)

• Transaction type

• VIN

• Vehicle year

• Vehicle make or model

• Policy number

• Policyholder name

• Policyholder address (if cancellation)

• Driver’s license number, if person and if available

• Federal tax identification number, if company and if available

• Date policy was canceled, terminated, changed, or issued

• Fleet indicator, if fleet

For fleet (more than 25 Florida-registered vehicles) or commercial non-fleet policies, (1) the insurance company may report on a policy basis instead of a per vehicle basis; (2) all VINs may be reported if they are available but if not, the insurer may report without VINs using one record for the entire fleet or commercial, non-fleet; and (3) while cancellation on an entire fleet is required, changes on individual vehicles need not be reported.

The Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) will return files containing errors. An insurer must correct the filing and return it within 30 days.

Excerpts from the DHSMV procedures manual, including data reporting details, is enclosed and available at www. hsmv. state. fl. us/FRManual/index. html

Louisiana

• Termination

• Withdrawal

• Cancellation

• Lapsed

• Made ineffective

• Policy issued

(not specified)

Maine

Cancellation

• Name, address, and birth date of motor vehicle owner

• VIN

Report cancellations on Uniform Notice of Cancellation of Motor Carrier Insurance Policies (Form F).

Maryland

Final terminations or other lapses

• Reason code for termination or lapse of coverage

• Insured’s name

• Insured’s driver’s license number or birth date

• Make, model year, and VIN of each vehicle

• Policy number, effective date, and cancellation date

The Motor Vehicle Administration rejects notifications that do not include all the required data. An insurer must resubmit a revised notification within 30 days of rejection.

Massachusetts

Cancellation

(not specified)

Nevada

• Policy issued or amended

• Cancellation

• Termination

• Each insured’s name or identification number (An individual’s ID number is his Social Security number or driver’s license number. An entity’s ID number is its employer identification number. )

• Make, year, and VIN of each vehicle

• Policy number, effective date, and expiration date

• Any other information DMV may require

DMV returns any record that contains errors. The insurer must submit a corrected record on or before the 15th day of the following month.

New Mexico

Cancellation

(Insurers must write policies as effective “until cancelled. ”)

National Association of Regulatory and Utility Commissioners (NARUC) uniform filing form K (if intrastate motor carrier) or BMC 35V (if interstate motor carrier).

New York

Effective until January 1, 2007:

• Cancellation

• Non-renewal

• Termination

• Policy issued

• Policy reinstatement

• Vehicle added or removed from policy

• Renewal of policy covering for-hire vehicles

Effective January 1, 2007:

• Cancellation

• Non-renewal

• Termination

• Policy number

• Date insurance lapsed

• Policyholder’s address

• Vehicle registration number

• VIN

The department may exempt from the reporting requirements certain classifications of vehicles that, in the commissioner’s opinion, are generally insured and for which it is difficult to identify uninsured vehicles within such classification, such as large commercial vehicle fleets.

Oregon

• Cancellation

• Non-renewal

• Policy issued

• Vehicle added or removed from policy

• Person’s name and residence address

• VIN of each vehicle covered by the policy registered or based in Oregon

• Action (e. g. , policy issued, canceled, or not renewed)

• Any other information required by DMV

Data DMV requires for vehicle-specific policy:

• Vehicle make, model, year, and VIN

• Insurer’s company code

• Policy number and type

• Policy effective or termination date, as appropriate for the transaction

• Transaction code (e. g. , cancel, add) and date (i. e. , the date data is submitted)

• Vehicle registration plate number, if available

Data DMV requires for non-owner or non-vehicle-specific policy:

• Insurer’s company code

• Policy number and type

• Policy effective or termination date, as appropriate for the transaction

• Insured’s driver license jurisdiction

• Insured’s Oregon DMV customer identification number

• Insured’s birth date, if an individual and not an organization

• Transaction date

• Vehicle registration plate number, if available

Utah

A record of each motor vehicle insurance policy in effect for vehicles registered or garaged in Utah as of the previous month issued by the insurer.

• Name, birth date, and driver license number of each insured owner or operator

• Named insured’s address

• Make, year, and VIN of each insured vehicle

• Policy number, effective date, and expiration date

Virginia

• Cancellation

• Addition of liability insurance for Virginia-registered vehicles

• Provision of liability insurance for Virginia-registered vehicle “newly satisfying” financial responsibility requirements

• Action (e. g. , addition, deletion, modification)

• DMV-assigned customer number

• Customer’s full name

• Customer’s birth date (optional)

• Customer’s gender (optional)

• Insurance company number

• Policy number

• Policy effective date

• Coverage type (e. g. , owner, operator, employee)

• Certification effective date

• Certification effective time (optional)

• Termination date

• Year, make, model, VIN of each vehicle involved in the action reported

Virginia’s DMV financial responsibility insurance filing user guide, including file layout, is enclosed and may be found at www. dmv. state. va. us/webdoc/forms/index. asp.

Table 3: Statutory and Regulatory Citations

State

Citation

Arizona

Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 28-4148Ariz. Admin. Code R17-5-502 and R17-5-503

Arkansas

Ark. Code Ann. § 27-22-107

Colorado

Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 42-7-416, 42-7-604, and 10-4-615

Florida

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 627. 736(9)(a)

Louisiana

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 32: 863. 2

Maine

Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 29A, § 1611

Maryland

Md. Code Ann. , [Transp. ] § 17-106Md. Regs. Code tit. 11, § 18. 04. 01, et seq.

Massachusetts

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 175, § 113A(2)

Nevada

Nev. Rev. Stat. 485. 308 and 485. 314Nev. Admin. Code ch. 485, §§ 150 - 175

New Mexico

N. M. Admin. Code tit. 18, § 3. 3. 13

New York

N. Y. [Veh. & Traf. ] Law § 313N. Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 15, § 34. 3

Oregon

Or. Rev. Stat. § 742. 580Or. Admin. R. 735-050-0130, et seq.

Utah

Utah Code Ann. § 31A-22-315

Virginia

Va. Code Ann. § 46. 2-706. 1

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