The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
H. B. No. 481 As IntroducedAs Introduced
127th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2007-2008 |
| |
Cosponsors:
Representatives Oelslager, Stebelton, Okey, Huffman, Hughes, Foley, Combs, Szollosi, Skindell
A BILL
To amend sections 2305.16 and 3937.18 of the Revised
Code to include in the definition of uninsured
motorist, operators who avoid liability because of
a "sudden emergency" plea, to prohibit uninsured
and underinsured coverage from limiting or
contracting certain coverage requirements, and to
include uninsured motorist and underinsured
motorist coverage in the current tolling of the
statute of limitations due to the person bringing
an action being within the age of minority or of
unsound mind.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2305.16 and 3937.18 of the Revised
Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2305.16. Unless otherwise provided in sections
1302.98,
1304.35, and
2305.04 to 2305.14, and 3937.18
of the Revised Code,
if a person
entitled to bring any action
mentioned in those
sections, unless
for penalty or forfeiture,
is, at the time the
cause of action
accrues, within the
age of minority or of unsound
mind, the person
may bring it
within the respective times limited
by those
sections, after the
disability is removed. When the
interests of
two or more parties
are joint and inseparable, the
disability of
one shall inure to
the benefit of all.
After the cause of action accrues, if the person entitled
to
bring the action becomes of unsound mind and is adjudicated as
such by a court of competent jurisdiction
or
is confined in an
institution or hospital under a diagnosed
condition or disease
which renders
the person of unsound
mind, the time
during
which
the person is of
unsound mind and
so adjudicated or so
confined
shall not be
computed as any part of
the period within
which the
action must
be brought.
Sec. 3937.18. (A)
Any policy of insurance
delivered or
issued for
delivery in this state with respect to any motor
vehicle
registered or principally garaged in this state that
insures
against loss
resulting from
liability imposed by law for
bodily
injury or
death suffered by
any person arising out of the
ownership,
maintenance, or use of a
motor vehicle, may, but is not
required to, include
uninsured
motorist
coverage, underinsured
motorist coverage, or
both uninsured and underinsured motorist
coverages.
Unless otherwise defined in the policy or any endorsement
to
the policy, "motor vehicle," for purposes of the uninsured
motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both
uninsured
and
underinsured motorist coverages, means
a
self-propelled
vehicle
designed for use and principally used on
public roads,
including
an automobile, truck, semi-tractor,
motorcycle, and bus.
"Motor
vehicle" also includes a motor home,
provided the motor
home is
not stationary and is not being used as
a temporary or
permanent
residence or office. "Motor vehicle" does
not include a
trolley,
streetcar, trailer, railroad engine,
railroad car,
motorized
bicycle, golf cart, off-road recreational
vehicle,
snowmobile,
fork lift, aircraft, watercraft, construction
equipment, farm
tractor or other vehicle designed and principally
used for
agricultural purposes, mobile home, vehicle traveling on
treads or
rails, or any similar vehicle.
(B) For purposes of any uninsured motorist coverage
included
in a policy of insurance, an "uninsured motorist" is the
owner or
operator of
a motor vehicle if any of the following
conditions
applies:
(1) There exists no bodily injury liability bond or
insurance
policy covering the owner's or operator's liability to
the
insured.
(2) The liability insurer denies coverage to the owner or
operator, or is or becomes the subject of insolvency proceedings
in any state.
(3) The identity of the owner or operator cannot be
determined, but independent corroborative evidence exists to prove
that the bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death of the insured
was proximately caused by the negligence or intentional actions of
the unidentified operator of the motor vehicle. For purposes of
division (B)(3) of this section, the testimony of any insured
seeking recovery from the insurer shall not constitute independent
corroborative evidence, unless the testimony is supported by
additional evidence.
(4) The owner or operator has diplomatic immunity.
(5) The owner or operator has immunity under Chapter 2744.
of
the Revised Code.
(6) A court or jury determines that the operator is not
negligent in a motor vehicle accident due to the fact that the
operator was suddenly stricken by a period of unconsciousness
which the operator had no reason to anticipate and which rendered
it impossible for the operator to control the motor vehicle.
An "uninsured motorist" does not include the owner or
operator of a motor vehicle that is self-insured within the
meaning of the financial responsibility law of the state in which
the motor vehicle is registered.
(C) If underinsured motorist coverage
is
included
in a policy
of insurance, the underinsured motorist coverage shall provide
protection for
insureds thereunder for bodily injury,
sickness, or
disease,
including death, suffered by any insured under the
policy,
where the limits of coverage available for payment to the
insured
under all bodily injury liability bonds and insurance
policies
covering persons liable to the insured are less than the
limits
for the
underinsured motorist coverage.
Underinsured
motorist coverage
in this state is not and shall not
be excess
coverage to
other applicable liability
coverages, and shall only
provide the
insured an amount of protection not greater than
that
which would
be available under the insured's uninsured
motorist
coverage if
the person or persons liable
to the insured were
uninsured
at the
time of the accident. The policy limits of the
underinsured
motorist coverage shall be reduced by those amounts
available for
payment under all applicable bodily injury
liability
bonds and
insurance policies covering persons liable to
the
insured.
For purposes of underinsured motorist coverage, an
"underinsured motorist" does not include the owner or operator of
a motor vehicle that has applicable liability coverage in the
policy under which the underinsured motorist coverage is provided.
(D)
With respect to the
uninsured motorist coverage,
underinsured motorist coverage, or
both
uninsured and underinsured
motorist coverages included in a
policy
of insurance, an insured
shall be required to prove all
elements
of the insured's claim
that are necessary to recover from
the
owner or operator of the
uninsured or underinsured motor
vehicle for the purpose of the
insurer's determination of the accrual of the insured's claim.
(E) The
uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist
coverage, or both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages
included in a policy of insurance shall
not be subject to an
exclusion or reduction in
amount because
of
any
workers'
compensation benefits payable as a
result of the
same
injury or
death.
(F) Any
policy of insurance
that includes
uninsured motorist
coverage,
underinsured motorist coverage, or both uninsured and
underinsured
motorist coverages
may,
without regard to any
premiums
involved, include
terms and
conditions that preclude any
and all
stacking of such
coverages,
including but not limited to:
(1) Interfamily stacking, which is the aggregating of the
limits of such coverages by the same person or two or more
persons, whether family members or not, who are not members of
the
same household;
(2) Intrafamily stacking, which is the aggregating of the
limits of such coverages purchased by the same person or two or
more family members of the same household.
(G) Any
policy of insurance
that includes
uninsured motorist
coverage,
underinsured motorist coverage, or both uninsured and
underinsured
motorist coverages
and that
provides a limit of
coverage for payment
of
damages for bodily
injury, including
death, sustained by any one
person in any one
automobile
accident,
may, notwithstanding
Chapter 2125. of the
Revised Code,
include
terms and conditions to
the effect that all
claims
resulting from
or arising out of any
one person's bodily
injury,
including death,
shall collectively be
subject to the
limit of
the policy
applicable to bodily injury,
including death,
sustained by one
person, and, for the purpose of
such policy
limit
shall constitute
a single claim. Any such
policy limit
shall be
enforceable
regardless of the number of
insureds, claims
made,
vehicles or
premiums shown in the
declarations or policy,
or
vehicles involved
in the accident.
(H) Any policy of insurance that includes uninsured motorist
coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both uninsured and
underinsured motorist
coverages may include terms and conditions
requiring that, so long as the insured has not prejudiced the
insurer's subrogation rights, each
claim or suit for uninsured
motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both
uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages be
made or brought
within three years after the date of the accident
causing the
bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death, or within one year
after the liability insurer for the owner or operator of the motor
vehicle liable to the insured has become the subject of insolvency
proceedings in any state, whichever is later.
(I)
Any Except as otherwise provided in this section, any
policy of
insurance that includes uninsured motorist coverage,
underinsured motorist coverage, or both uninsured
and
underinsured
motorist coverages
may
include terms and conditions that preclude
coverage for bodily
injury or
death suffered by an insured under
specified
circumstances, including but not limited to any of the
following
circumstances:
(1) While the insured is operating or occupying a motor
vehicle owned by,
furnished to, or available for the regular use
of
a named insured, a
spouse, or a resident relative of a named
insured, if the motor vehicle is not
specifically identified in
the policy under which a claim is made, or is not a
newly acquired
or
replacement motor vehicle covered under the terms of the policy
under which
the
uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist
coverage, or both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages
are
provided;
(2) While the insured is operating or occupying a motor
vehicle without a
reasonable belief that the insured is entitled
to do so, provided that under
no circumstances will an insured
whose license has been suspended, revoked, or
never issued, be
held to have a reasonable belief that the insured is entitled
to
operate a motor vehicle;
(3) When the bodily injury or death is caused by a motor
vehicle operated by any person who is specifically excluded from
coverage for bodily injury liability in the policy under which
the
uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or
both
uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages are provided;
(4) While any employee, officer, director, partner, trustee,
member, executor, administrator, or beneficiary of the named
insured, or any relative of any such person, is operating or
occupying a motor vehicle, unless the employee, officer, director,
partner, trustee, member, executor, administrator, beneficiary, or
relative is operating or occupying a motor vehicle for which
uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or
both
uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages are provided in
the
policy;
(5) When the person actually suffering the bodily injury,
sickness, disease, or death is not an insured under the policy.
(J) In No policy of insurance that includes uninsured
motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both
uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage shall include terms
and conditions that contradict or limit the provisions of this
section.
(K) In the event of payment to any person under the
uninsured
motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or
both
uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages, and subject to
the
terms and conditions of that coverage, the insurer making such
payment is entitled, to the extent of the payment, to the proceeds
of any settlement or judgment resulting from the exercise of any
rights of recovery of that person against any person or
organization legally responsible for the bodily injury or death
for which the payment is made, including any amount recoverable
from an insurer that is or becomes the subject of insolvency
proceedings, through such proceedings or in any other lawful
manner. No insurer shall attempt to recover any amount against
the
insured of an insurer that is or becomes the subject of
insolvency
proceedings, to the extent of those rights against the
insurer
that the insured assigns to the paying insurer.
(K)(L)
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the
inclusion
of underinsured motorist coverage in any uninsured motorist
coverage
included in a policy of insurance.
(L)(M)
The superintendent of insurance shall study the
market
availability of, and competition for, uninsured and
underinsured
motorist coverages in this state and shall, from time
to time,
prepare status reports containing the superintendent's
findings
and any recommendations. The first status report shall
be prepared
not later than two years after the effective date of
this
amendment October 31, 2001. To assist in preparing these status
reports, the
superintendent may require insurers and rating
organizations
operating in this state to collect pertinent data
and to submit
that data to the superintendent.
The superintendent shall submit a copy of each status
report
to the governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives, the
president of the senate, and the chairpersons
of the committees of
the general assembly having primary
jurisdiction over issues
relating to automobile insurance.
Section 2. That existing sections 2305.16 and 3937.18 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. It is the intent of the General Assembly in
amending section 2305.16 of the Revised Code pursuant to this act
to respond to Sarmiento v. Grange Mutual Casualty Company (2005),
106 Ohio St. 3d 403, by clarifing that the provisions of section
2305.16 of the Revised Code apply to claims of uninsured motorist
and underinsured motorist coverage.
It is further the intent of the General Assembly in amending
divisions (I) and (J) of section 3937.18 of the Revised Code
pursuant to this act to supercede the effect of the holding of the
Ohio Supreme Court in Snyder v. American Family Insurance Company
(2007), 114 Ohio St. 3d 239. The General Assembly further declares
its intent that division (I) of section 3937.18 of the Revised
Code does not make the other provisions of section 3937.18 of the
Revised Code merely advisory, but rather division (I) of section
3937.18 of the Revised Code permits terms and conditions that do
not limit or
contradict the other provisions of the section.
It is further the intent of the General Assembly in amending
division (B) of section 3937.18 of the Revised Code pursuant to
this act to respond to Roman v. Estate of Gobbo (2003), 99 Ohio
St. 3d 260, by allowing insureds who have purchased uninsured
motorists coverage to be compensated under that coverage for
losses suffered as a result of accidents caused by persons who
avoid liability by proving the affirmative defense of "sudden
emergency."
|
|