Missouri Senate

Perfected

PROOF OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - This act allows a motorist to provide proof of financial responsibility for vehicle registration purposes by displaying an image of an insurance identification card on a mobile electronic device (Section 301.149).

This act allows the insurance identification card that contains proof of insurance information for a motor vehicle to be produced in a paper or an electronic format. Acceptable electronic forms include the display of electronic images on a cellular phone or any other type of portable electronic device. Under the act, an image of a motor vehicle liability insurance policy displayed on a mobile electronic device shall serve as satisfactory evidence of insurance in lieu of an insurance identification card.

The display of an image of an insurance card on a mobile electronic device shall not serve as consent for a law enforcement officer to access other contents of the device in any manner other than to verify the image of the insurance card.

Under the act, a person presenting his or her mobile electronic device to a law enforcement officer shall assume all liability for any damage to the mobile electronic device except for damage willfully or maliciously caused by a law enforcement officer.

The act updates a provision of law which makes it a Class B misdemeanor to knowingly or intentionally produce or distribute fraudulent insurance identification cards. Under the act, it will be a Class B misdemeanor to knowingly or intentionally produce or distribute fraudulent identification card images on a mobile electronic device (Section 303.024).

DELIVERY, STORAGE AND PRESENTATION OF INSURANCE DOCUMENTS - Under the terms of this act, any notice to a party or any other document required under applicable law in an insurance transaction or that is to serve as evidence of insurance coverage may be delivered, stored, and presented by electronic means so long as it meets the requirements of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. Delivery of a notice or document in accordance with the provisions of the act shall be considered equivalent to any delivery method required under applicable law, including delivery by first class mail, first class mail postage prepaid, certified mail, or certificate of mailing.

Under the act, a notice or document may be delivered by electronic means by an insurer to a party if the party has consented to that method of delivery and has not withdrawn the consent and the party, before giving consent, is provided with a clear and conspicuous statement informing the party of certain rights and options (Section 379.011).

PROVISION OF POLICY FORMS AND ENDORSEMENTS ELECTRONICALLY - This act provides that certain property insurance policy forms and endorsements, which do not contain personally identifiable information, may be made available electronically on the insurer's website in lieu of mailing or delivering a paper copy of policy forms and endorsements to an insured. If an insurer elects to make such insurance policy forms and endorsements available electronically on the insurer's website in lieu of mailing or delivering a paper copy to the insured, it must comply with certain conditions with respect to such policy forms and endorsements. For example, the policy forms and endorsements must be easily and publicly accessible on the insurer's website and remain that way for as long as the policy form or endorsement is in force or actively sold in Missouri. In addition, the insurer must retain and store the policy forms and endorsements for a period of 5 years after they are withdrawn from use or replaced with other policy forms and endorsements and make them available to insureds and former insureds upon request and at no cost. In addition, the act mandates that the policy forms and endorsements must be available on the insurer's website in an electronic format that enables the insured to print and save the policy forms and endorsements using programs or applications that are widely available on the internet and free to use. At policy issuance and renewal, the insurer shall provide clear and conspicuous notice to the insured that it does not intend to mail or deliver a paper copy of the policy forms or documents. The notice shall provide instructions on how the insured may access the policy forms and endorsements on the insurer's website. The insurer shall also notify the insured of their right to obtain a paper copy of the policy forms and endorsements at no cost and provide either a toll-free telephone number or the telephone number of the insured's producer by which the insured can make this request (Section 379.012).

LICENSE PLATE TABS - This act modifies the process for obtaining free license plate tabs. Under current law, any person replacing a stolen license plate tab may receive at no cost up to two sets of two license plate tabs per year when the application for the replacement tab is accompanied with a police report. This act replaces the police report with a notarized affidavit so that a person may receive up to two sets of license plate tabs per year when the application for the replacement tab is accompanied by a notarized affidavit verifying that the tab or tabs were stolen (Section 301.301). This provision is also contained in SB 217 and SB 51 (2013).

STEPHEN WITTE