Bill Text: MN SF1875 | 2011-2012 | 87th Legislature | Chaptered
Bill Title: Property and casualty insurance coverage provisions modification
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2012-04-20 - Secretary of State Chapter 185 04/18/12 [SF1875 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2011-SF1875-Chaptered.html
CHAPTER 185--S.F.No. 1875
An act
relating to insurance; property and casualty; permitting a written disclosure of guaranty association coverage when a policy is delivered;
expanding access to accident reports to include all parties involved; permitting
an insurance identification card to be provided in an electronic format;amending
Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 65B.482, subdivision 1; 169.09, subdivision
13; Minnesota Statutes 2011 Supplement, section 60C.21, subdivision 1.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2011 Supplement, section 60C.21, subdivision 1, is
amended to read:
Subdivision 1. Notice required. No person, including an insurer, agent, or affiliate
of an insurer or agent shall sell, or offer for sale, a covered property and casualty insurance
policy, unless the notice, in the form specified in subdivision 2, is given or obtained with
or as a part of the application for that policy.
For telephonic sales, the notice may be given or obtained either with or as part of
the application for, or at the time of delivery of that policy, and the person offering the
policy shall document the fact that the notice was given. This section does not apply to
renewals, unless the renewal increases the dollar amount of a coverage by more than 100
percent. The notice must be given or obtained in writing or in the same medium as the
application for insurance.
EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 65B.482, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. Issuance of card. Every obligor transacting business in this state
shall provide an insurance identification card for each vehicle covered at the time of
initiating each policy of automobile insurance, as defined in section
2
in an electronic format if the insured agrees. When an insured has five or more vehicles
registered in this state, the obligor may use the designation "all owned vehicles" on each
identification card in lieu of a specified description. The card must state:
(1) the insured's name;
(2) the policy number;
(3) the policy dates of coverage;
(4) the make, model, and year of the vehicle being covered;
(5) the vehicle identification number or at least the last three digits of that number;
and
(6) the name of the obligor providing coverage.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 169.09, subdivision 13, is amended to read:
Subd. 13. Reports confidential; evidence, fee, penalty, appropriation. (a) All
reports and supplemental information required under this section must be for the use of the
commissioner of public safety and other appropriate state, federal, county, and municipal
governmental agencies for accident analysis purposes, except:
(1) upon written request, the commissioner of public safety or any law enforcement
agency shall
(i) any individual involved in
representative of the individual's estate, or the surviving spouse, or one or more surviving
next of kin, or a trustee appointed under section
(ii) any other person injured in person, property, or means of support, or who incurs
other pecuniary loss by virtue of the accident
(iii) legal counsel
(iv) a representative of the
of any person described in item (i) or (ii);
(2) the commissioner of public safety shall, upon written request, provide the driver
filing a report under subdivision 7 with a copy of the report filed by the driver;
(3) the commissioner of public safety may verify with insurance companies vehicle
insurance information to enforce sections
(4) the commissioner of public safety shall provide the commissioner of
transportation the information obtained for each traffic accident involving a commercial
motor vehicle, for purposes of administering commercial vehicle safety regulations; and
(5) the commissioner of public safety may give to the United States Department of
Transportation commercial vehicle accident information in connection with federal grant
programs relating to safety.
(b) Accident reports and data contained in the reports are not discoverable under any
provision of law or rule of court. No report shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or
criminal, or any action for damages or criminal proceedings arising out of an accident.
However, the commissioner of public safety shall furnish, upon the demand of any person
who has or claims to have made a report or upon demand of any court, a certificate
showing that a specified accident report has or has not been made to the commissioner
solely to prove compliance or failure to comply with the requirements that the report be
made to the commissioner.
(c) Nothing in this subdivision prevents any individual who has made a report under
this section from providing information to any individuals involved in an accident or their
representatives or from testifying in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident,
as to facts within the individual's knowledge. It is intended by this subdivision to render
privileged the reports required, but it is not intended to prohibit proof of the facts to
which the reports relate.
(d) Disclosing any information contained in any accident report, except as provided
in this subdivision, section
(e) The commissioner of public safety shall charge authorized persons as described
in paragraph (a) a $5 fee for a copy of an accident report. Ninety percent of the $5 fee
collected under this paragraph must be deposited in the special revenue fund and credited
to the driver services operating account established in section
must be deposited in the general fund. The commissioner may also furnish an electronic
copy of the database of accident records, which must not contain personal or private data
on an individual, to private agencies as provided in paragraph (g), for not less than the cost
of preparing the copies on a bulk basis as provided in section
(f) The fees specified in paragraph (e) notwithstanding, the commissioner and law
enforcement agencies shall charge commercial users who request access to response or
incident data relating to accidents a fee not to exceed 50 cents per record. "Commercial
user" is a user who in one location requests access to data in more than five accident
reports per month, unless the user establishes that access is not for a commercial purpose.
Of the money collected by the commissioner under this paragraph, 90 percent must be
deposited in the special revenue fund and credited to the driver services operating account
established in section
(g) The fees in paragraphs (e) and (f) notwithstanding, the commissioner shall
provide an electronic copy of the accident records database to the public on a case-by-case
basis using the cost-recovery charges provided for under section
3
However, unless the accident records database includes the vehicle identification number,
the commissioner shall include the vehicle registration plate number if a private agency
certifies and agrees that the agency:
(1) is in the business of collecting accident and damage information on vehicles;
(2) will use the vehicle registration plate number only for identifying vehicles that
have been involved in accidents or damaged, to provide this information to persons
seeking access to a vehicle's history and not for identifying individuals or for any other
purpose; and
(3) will be subject to the penalties and remedies under sections
EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.
