| 1 | 1 | | |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW. |
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| 4 | 4 | | [Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law. |
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| 5 | 5 | | *sb0551* |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | SENATE BILL 551 |
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| 8 | 8 | | C4 5lr2833 |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | By: Senators Bailey, Carozza, Feldman, Folden, Hester, Jackson, Kramer, |
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| 11 | 11 | | Lewis Young, Ready, Rosapepe, Salling, Watson, and West |
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| 12 | 12 | | Introduced and read first time: January 23, 2025 |
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| 13 | 13 | | Assigned to: Finance |
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| 14 | 14 | | |
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| 15 | 15 | | A BILL ENTITLED |
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| 16 | 16 | | |
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| 17 | 17 | | AN ACT concerning 1 |
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| 18 | 18 | | |
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| 19 | 19 | | Private Passenger Motor Vehicle Insurance – Collisions With Wild Animals – 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Prohibited Actions by Insurers 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | FOR the purpose of prohibiting an insurer, with respect to private passenger motor vehicle 4 |
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| 23 | 23 | | insurance, from increasing a premium, adding a surcharge, or removing, altering, or 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | refusing to consider a discount based on a certain type of accident or loss caused by 6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | a collision with a free–roaming wild animal; and generally relating to private 7 |
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| 26 | 26 | | passenger motor vehicle insurance. 8 |
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| 27 | 27 | | |
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| 28 | 28 | | BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 9 |
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| 29 | 29 | | Article – Insurance 10 |
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| 30 | 30 | | Section 27–501(k) 11 |
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| 31 | 31 | | Annotated Code of Maryland 12 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (2017 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 13 |
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| 33 | 33 | | |
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| 34 | 34 | | SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 14 |
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| 35 | 35 | | That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 15 |
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| 36 | 36 | | |
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| 37 | 37 | | Article – Insurance 16 |
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| 38 | 38 | | |
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| 39 | 39 | | 27–501. 17 |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | (k) With respect to private passenger motor vehicle insurance, an insurer may 18 |
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| 42 | 42 | | not: 19 |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | (1) cancel or refuse to renew coverage based on the claims history of an 20 |
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| 45 | 45 | | insured where two or fewer of the claims within the preceding 3–year period were for 21 |
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| 46 | 46 | | accidents or losses where the insured was not at fault for the loss; OR 22 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 2 SENATE BILL 551 |
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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | |
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| 50 | 50 | | (2) INCREASE A PREMIUM , ADD A SURCHAR GE, OR REMOVE, ALTER, 1 |
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| 51 | 51 | | OR REFUSE TO CONSIDER A DISCOUNT BASED ON ACCIDENTS O R LOSSES: 2 |
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| 52 | 52 | | |
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| 53 | 53 | | (I) CAUSED BY A COLLISIO N WITH A FREE –ROAMING WILD 3 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ANIMAL; AND 4 |
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| 55 | 55 | | |
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| 56 | 56 | | (II) FOR WHICH THE INSURE D WAS NOT AT FAULT F OR THE 5 |
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| 57 | 57 | | LOSS. 6 |
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| 58 | 58 | | |
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| 59 | 59 | | SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, Th at this Act shall take effect 7 |
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| 60 | 60 | | October 1, 2025. 8 |
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