Bill Text: NH HB1353 | 2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relative to recovery under uninsured motorist coverage.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2014-07-01 - Signed by the Governor on 6/30/2014; Chapter 0154; Effective 1/01/2015 [HB1353 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2014-HB1353-Amended.html
HB 1353 – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
12Mar2014… 0748h
2014 SESSION
03/01
HOUSE BILL 1353
AN ACT relative to recovery under uninsured motorist coverage.
SPONSORS: Rep. S. Chandley, Hills 22; Rep. Renzullo, Hills 37
COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs
This bill modifies when coverage is available under uninsured motor vehicle coverage provisions.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12Mar2014… 0748h
14-2501
03/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to recovery under uninsured motorist coverage.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Uninsured Motor Vehicle. Amend RSA 259:117 to read as follows:
259:117 Uninsured Motor Vehicle. “Uninsured motor vehicle,” for the purposes of RSA 264:15, shall mean, subject to the terms and conditions of the coverage required therein, an insured motor vehicle for which the liability insurer is unable to make payment with respect to the legal liability of its insured within the limits specified therein because of insolvency. The term shall also include an insured motor vehicle if and to the extent that, at the time of the subject accident, [the limits of liability insurance carried as to such motor vehicle are lower than the minimum limits applicable to motor vehicle liability insurance policies issued pursuant to the laws of New Hampshire] (1) the applicable liability insurance limits are less than the limits of the uninsured motorist coverage applicable to the insured; or (2) the available liability insurance has been reduced by payments to others injured in the subject accident to an amount less than the limits of the uninsured motorist coverage applicable to the insured.
2 Uninsured Motorist Coverage. Amend RSA 264:15, I to read as follows:
I. No policy shall be issued under the provisions of RSA 264:14, with respect to a vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state, unless coverage is provided therein or supplemental thereto at least in amounts or limits prescribed for bodily injury or death for a liability policy under this chapter, for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover damages from owners or drivers of uninsured motor vehicles, and hit-and-run vehicles because of bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death resulting therefrom. No policy shall limit or reduce the uninsured motorist coverage available to the insured to less than the one person minimum coverage required by RSA 259:61 unless the uninsured motorist coverage available to all insureds exceeds the one accident minimum coverage required by RSA 259:61, in which case the one accident limit shall apply. When an insured elects to purchase liability insurance in an amount greater than the minimum coverage required by RSA 259:61, the insured’s uninsured motorist coverage shall automatically be equal to the liability coverage elected. For the purposes of this paragraph umbrella or excess policies that provide excess limits to policies described in RSA 259:61 shall also provide uninsured motorist coverage equal to the limits of liability purchased, unless the named insured rejects such coverage in writing. Rejection of such coverage by a named insured shall constitute a rejection of coverage by all insureds, shall apply to all vehicles then or thereafter eligible to be covered under the policy, and shall remain effective upon policy amendment or renewal, unless the named insured requests such coverage in writing.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
