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S. 380
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Cromer, Ford, Ryberg, Campsen, Alexander, Scott, Bryant and Lourie
Document Path: l:\s-res\rwc\001unin.kmm.doc
Introduced in the Senate on January 31, 2007
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Transportation
Summary: Automobile Insurance Electronic Data Service Act
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/31/2007 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-17 1/31/2007 Senate Referred to Committee on Transportation SJ-17
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
TO AMEND SECTION 38-73-470, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DISPOSITION OF THE UNINSURED MOTORIST PREMIUM, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A PORTION OF THE PREMIUM MUST BE PAID TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND PLACED IN THE EDS INSURANCE FUND; TO AMEND SECTION 56-1-10, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS OF TERMS CONTAINED IN THE PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, SO AS TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS FOR THE TERMS "ELECTRONIC DATA SERVICES" AND "EDS INSURANCE FUND"; TO AMEND SECTION 56-10-552, RELATING TO THE UNINSURED ENFORCEMENT FUND, SO AS TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CHANGE; AND BY ADDING ARTICLE 9 TO CHAPTER 10, TITLE 56 SO AS TO ENACT THE AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE ELECTRONIC DATA SERVICES ACT, TO PROVIDE FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE, TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES SHALL ADMINISTER THE ELECTRONIC DATA SERVICES PROVIDED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE, TO ESTABLISH THE EDS INSURANCE FUND, TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT MUST COLLECT DATA AND MAINTAIN STATISTICS FOR EACH FISCAL YEAR IN REGARD TO ELECTRONIC DATA SERVICES AND THE TRANSMISSION OR DELIVERY OF DRIVER, VEHICLE, AND OTHER RELATED DATA TO THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY, AND PROVIDE THAT THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT SUPERSEDE OTHER ACTIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT TO TRANSMIT OR DELIVER DATA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 9, CHAPTER 10, TITLE 56.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 38-73-470 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 324 of 2002, is amended to read:
"Section 38-73-470. (A) Two dollars of the yearly premium for uninsured motorist coverage is directed to must be paid to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety to be and placed on deposit with the State Treasurer in the 'Uninsured Enforcement Fund', payable on a quarterly basis, to provide for the costs of enforcing and administering the provisions of Article 3, Chapter 10, Title 56. Of the two dollars collected, eighty cents must be distributed to the South Carolina Highway Patrol and one dollar twenty cents must be distributed to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Interest earned by the 'Uninsured Fund' must be retained by that fund. There is no requirement for an insurer or an agent to offer underinsured motorist coverage at limits less than the statutorily required bodily injury or property damage limits.
(B) Fifty cents of the yearly premium for uninsured motorist coverage must be paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles and placed on deposit with the State Treasurer in the 'EDS Insurance Fund', payable on a quarterly basis, to provide for the cost of administering the provisions of Article 9, Chapter 10, Title 56. Interest earned by the 'EDS Insurance Fund' must be retained by that fund."
SECTION 2. Section 56-1-10 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 170 of 2005, is further amended by adding at the end:
"(23) 'Electronic Data Services' means the electronic transmission and delivery of driver information, vehicle information, and other related information to insurers and insurance producers licensed in this State.
(24) 'EDS Insurance Fund' means the fund established pursuant to Article 9, Chapter 10 of this title to reimburse the department for costs associated with providing electronic data services."
SECTION 3. Section 56-10-552(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(A) All funds collected as provided in Section 38-73-470(A) must be directed to the director of the Department of Public Safety for the establishment and maintenance of a special fund, to be known as the 'Uninsured Enforcement Fund', to be used by the Department of Public Safety for the purpose of enforcement and administration of Article 3, Chapter 10, Title 56."
SECTION 4. Chapter 10, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 56-10-710. This article may be cited as the 'Automobile Insurance Electronic Data Services Act'.
Section 56-10-720. (A) The General Assembly finds that the purpose of this article is to help reduce inaccurate automobile insurance pricing while increasing the reliability of insurance policy data obtained by insurers and their licensed producers and to assure that the data maintained within the motorist insurance database program under Article 7 of this chapter is correct and verifiable by the department.
(B) The General Assembly further recognizes that the driver and vehicle information and other related data required for insurers and their licensed producers to accurately price and issue automobile insurance policies in this State is available from databases maintained at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Section 56-10-730. (A) Electronic data services provided pursuant to this article must be administered by the department. The department may contract with service providers who will provide a system of transmitting data from the department to insurers and insurance producers licensed in this State. All contracts with service providers must be uniform in regard to the amount and timeliness of payments to service providers by the department, qualifications of service providers, and testing and system requirements of service providers. An insurer may not contract with the department to act as a service provider.
(B) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall convene a working group chaired by its director or his designee, to facilitate the implementation of the electronic data services, to assist in development of regulations, to audit the expenditures associated with the electronic data services and reimbursements from the EDS Insurance Fund, and to issue recommendations based on periodic reviews by the working group. The working group shall consist of eight representatives of the insurance industry. The director of the Department of Insurance shall appoint two representatives of insurance companies and two licensed, resident insurance producers. The director of the Department of Motor Vehicles shall appoint two representatives of insurance companies and two licensed, resident insurance producers. The working group shall also consist of the director of the Department of Insurance, or his designee, and the director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, or his designee.
(C) The working group shall develop, assist in the implementation of, and maintain standards for a system of transmitting data from the department to all insurance producers and insurers doing business in this State. The system shall include standards for the electronic delivery of data from service providers to insurers for the issuance of automobile insurance policies. Data submitted to insurers electronically in accordance with this section by service providers for insurance producers must be accepted by insurers for the issuance of automobile insurance policies in this State. The working group must consider methods for the inclusion of data specific to individual insurers. Nothing in this section prohibits an insurer from requiring the execution of the insurer's proprietary, printed automobile insurance application by the applicant subsequent to the insurer's acceptance of data submitted electronically by an insurance producer.
(D) The driver, vehicle, and related information delivered to insurers and insurance producers in accordance with this article must not be used for marketing, solicitation, or another purpose not enumerated in this article. This information may be used for rating and quoting automobile insurance policy premiums, for the issuance of an automobile insurance policy, and for other purposes enumerated under this article and Article 7 of this chapter.
(E) The Department of Motor Vehicles, with input form the working group, shall promulgate regulations for administering and enforcing this article.
Section 56-10-740. For each fiscal year, the department will estimate the costs it will incur to provide electronic data services to insurers and insurance producers doing business in this State, and project the amount of funds available to the department for reimbursement from the EDS Insurance Fund for that fiscal year. If the department determines that the funds available for reimbursement exceed the estimated costs, then no transaction charges will be made by the department or any service provider to insurers and insurance producers for the electronic data services. If the department determines that the funds available for reimbursement are less than the estimated costs, then an appropriate transaction charge will be made by the department to insurers for the electronic data services to recoup the department's estimated deficit. An outstanding balance remaining from the collection of transaction charges must be deposited into the EDS Insurance Fund at the end of the fiscal year for use in the next or subsequent fiscal years. At anytime during a fiscal year, if the department determines that the funds available from the EDS Insurance Fund will not cover projected expenses for the remainder of the fiscal year, then upon thirty days notice, the department may establish or increase transaction charges to insurers for the electronic data services. The department at anytime may decrease transaction charges based on the department's financial projections.
Section 56-10-750. All funds collected as provided in Section 38-73-470(B) must be directed to the director of the Department of Motor Vehicles and must be placed on deposit with the State Treasurer and held in a special fund to be known as the 'EDS Insurance Fund' to be used by the Department of Motor Vehicles as provided for in this article.
Section 56-10-755. The Department of Motor Vehicles must collect data and maintain statistics for each fiscal year with regard to electronic data services and the transmission or delivery of driver, vehicle, and other related data to the insurance industry including fees collected and placed in the EDS Insurance Fund, reimbursements to the department from the EDS Insurance Fund, expenditures related to service providers under contract with the department fees collected from insurers for which the department received no reimbursement, and the net funds available in the EDS Insurance Fund at the end of the fiscal year. The Department of Motor Vehicles must provide an annual report to the General Assembly and the Department of Insurance containing the information required in this section.
Section 56-10-760. This article shall not supercede other actions by the department to transmit or deliver data in accordance with the purpose of this chapter."
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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