Missouri 2024 Regular Session

Missouri House Bill HB2277 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 SECONDREGULARSESSION
22 HOUSEBILLNO.2277
33 102NDGENERALASSEMBLY
44 INTRODUCEDBYREPRESENTATIVEHARDWICK.
55 4997H.01I DANARADEMANMILLER,ChiefClerk
66 ANACT
77 Torepealsection537.058,RSMo,andtoenactinlieuthereofonenewsectionrelatingto
88 settlementdemands.
99 BeitenactedbytheGeneralAssemblyofthestateofMissouri,asfollows:
1010 SectionA.Section537.058,RSMo,isrepealedandonenewsectionenactedinlieu
1111 2thereof,tobeknownassection537.058,toreadasfollows:
1212 537.058.1.Asusedinthissection,thefollowingtermsshallmean:
1313 2 (1)"Extracontractualdamages",anyamountofdamagethatexceedsthetotal
1414 3availablelimitofliabilityinsuranceforallofaliabilityinsurer'sliabilityinsurancepolicies
1515 4applicabletoaclaimforpersonalinjury,bodilyinjury,orwrongfuldeath;
1616 5 (2)"[Time-limited] Settlementdemand",anyoffertosettleanyclaimforpersonal
1717 6injury,bodilyinjury,orwrongfuldeathmadebyoronbehalfofaclaimanttoatort-feasor
1818 7withaliabilityinsurancepolicyforpurposesofsettlingaclaimagainstsuchtort-feasorwithin
1919 8theinsurer'slimitofliabilityinsurance[, whichbyitstermsmustbeacceptedwithina
2020 9specifiedperiodoftime];
2121 10 (3)"Tort-feasor",anypersonclaimedtohavecausedorcontributedtocausepersonal
2222 11injury,bodilyinjury,orwrongfuldeathtoaclaimant.
2323 12 2.[Atime-limited] Inanylawsuitallegingextracontractualdamagesagainstthe
2424 13tort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer,anypriorsettlementdemandtosettleanyclaimforpersonal
2525 14injury,bodilyinjury,orwrongfuldeathshall[be]notbeconsideredtohavebeena
2626 15reasonableopportunitytosettletheclaimunlessthesettlementdemandwasinwriting,
2727 16[shallreference] referencedthissection,[shallbe]wassentcertifiedmailreturn-receipt
2828 17requestedtothetort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer,remainedopenforacceptancebytheliability
2929 EXPLANATION—Matterenclosedinbold-facedbrackets[thus] intheabovebillisnotenactedandis
3030 intendedtobeomittedfromthelaw.Matterinbold-facetypeintheabovebillisproposedlanguage. 18insurerforatleastninetydaysfromthedatesuchdemandwasreceivedbytheliability
3131 19insurer,and[shallcontain] containedthefollowingadditionalmaterialterms:
3232 20 (1)Thetimeperiodwithinwhichtheoffershallremainopenforacceptancebythe
3333 21tort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer[, whichshallnotbeless]ifthetimeperiodforacceptanceis
3434 22morethanninetydaysfromthedatesuchdemandisreceivedbytheliabilityinsurer;
3535 23 (2)Theamountofmonetarypaymentrequestedorarequestfortheapplicablepolicy
3636 24limits;
3737 25 (3)Thedateandlocationoftheloss;
3838 26 (4)Theclaimnumber,ifknown;
3939 27 (5)Adescriptionofallknowninjuriessustainedbytheclaimant;
4040 28 (6)Thepartyorpartiestobereleasedifsuch[time-limited] settlementdemandis
4141 29accepted;
4242 30 (7)Adescriptionoftheclaimstobereleasedifsuch[time-limited] settlement
4343 31demandisaccepted;and
4444 32 (8)Anofferofunconditionalreleasefortheliabilityinsurer'sinsuredsfromall
4545 33presentandfutureliabilityforthatoccurrenceundersection537.060.
4646 34 3.Such[time-limited] settlementdemandshallbeaccompaniedby:
4747 35 (1)Alistofthenamesandaddressesofhealthcareproviderswhoprovidedtreatment
4848 36toorevaluationoftheclaimantordecedentforinjuriessufferedfromthedateofinjuryuntil
4949 37thedateofthe[time-limited] settlementdemand,andHIPAAcompliantwritten
5050 38authorizationssufficienttoallowtheliabilityinsurertoobtainsuchrecordsfromthe
5151 39healthcareproviderslisted;and
5252 40 (2)Alistofthenamesandaddressesofalltheclaimant'semployersatthetimethe
5353 41claimantwasfirstinjureduntilthedateofthe[time-limited] settlementdemand,andwritten
5454 42authorizationssufficienttoallowtheliabilityinsurertoobtainsuchrecordsfromall
5555 43employerslisted,iftheclaimantassertsalossofwages,earnings,compensation,orprofits
5656 44howeverdenominated.
5757 45 4.Ifaliabilityinsurerwiththerighttosettleonbehalfofaninsuredreceivesa[time-
5858 46limited] settlementdemand,suchinsurermayacceptthe[time-limited] settlementdemand
5959 47byprovidingwrittenacceptanceofthematerialtermsoutlinedinsubsection2ofthissection,
6060 48deliveredorpostmarkedtotheclaimantortheclaimant'srepresentativewithinthetimeperiod
6161 49[setinthetime-limited] inwhichthesettlementdemandisopenforacceptancebythe
6262 50liabilityinsurer,whichinnoeventshallbelessthanninetydays.
6363 51 5.Nothinginthissectionshallprohibitaclaimantmakinga[time-limited] settlement
6464 52demandfromrequiringpaymentwithinaspecifiedperiod;provided,however,thatsuch
6565 53periodforpaymentshallnotbelessthantendaysaftertheinsurer'sreceiptofafullyexecuted
6666 54unconditionalreleaseundersection537.060asspecifiedinsubsection2ofthissection.
6767 HB2277 2 55 6.Nothinginthissectionappliestooffersordemandsor[time-limited] settlement
6868 56demandsissuedwithinninetydaysofthetrialbyjuryofanyclaimonwhichalawsuithas
6969 57beenfiled.
7070 58 7.Inanylawsuitfiledbyaclaimantasanassigneeofthetort-feasororbythetort-
7171 59feasorforthebenefitoftheclaimant,a[time-limited] settlementdemandthatdoesnot
7272 60complywiththetermsofthissectionshallnotbeconsideredasareasonableopportunityto
7373 61settlefortheinsurerandshallnotbeadmissibleinanylawsuitallegingextracontractual
7474 62damagesagainstthetort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer.
7575 âś”
7676 HB2277 3