Missouri 2025 Regular Session

Missouri House Bill HB437 Compare Versions

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11 FIRSTREGULARSESSION
2-[PERFECTED]
32 HOUSEBILLNO.437
43 103RDGENERALASSEMBLY
54 INTRODUCEDBYREPRESENTATIVEHARDWICK.
6-1524H.01P JOSEPHENGLER,ChiefClerk
5+1524H.01I DANARADEMANMILLER,ChiefClerk
76 ANACT
87 Torepealsection537.058,RSMo,andtoenactinlieuthereofonenewsectionrelatingto
98 settlementdemands.
109 BeitenactedbytheGeneralAssemblyofthestateofMissouri,asfollows:
1110 SectionA.Section537.058,RSMo,isrepealedandonenewsectionenactedinlieu
1211 2thereof,tobeknownassection537.058,toreadasfollows:
1312 537.058.1.Asusedinthissection,thefollowingtermsshallmean:
1413 2 (1)"Extracontractualdamages",anyamountofdamagethatexceedsthetotal
1514 3availablelimitofliabilityinsuranceforallofaliabilityinsurer'sliabilityinsurancepolicies
1615 4applicabletoaclaimforpersonalinjury,bodilyinjury,orwrongfuldeath;
1716 5 (2)"[Time-limited] Settlementdemand",anyoffertosettleanyclaimforpersonal
1817 6injury,bodilyinjury,orwrongfuldeathmadebyoronbehalfofaclaimanttoatort-feasor
1918 7withaliabilityinsurancepolicyforpurposesofsettlingaclaimagainstsuchtort-feasorwithin
2019 8theinsurer'slimitofliabilityinsurance[, whichbyitstermsmustbeacceptedwithina
2120 9specifiedperiodoftime];
2221 10 (3)"Tort-feasor",anypersonclaimedtohavecausedorcontributedtocausepersonal
2322 11injury,bodilyinjury,orwrongfuldeathtoaclaimant.
2423 12 2.[Atime-limited] Inanylawsuitallegingextracontractualdamagesagainstthe
2524 13tort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer,anypriorsettlementdemandtosettleanyclaimforpersonal
2625 14injury,bodilyinjury,orwrongfuldeathshall[be]notbeconsideredtohavebeena
2726 15reasonableopportunitytosettletheclaimunlessthesettlementdemandwasinwriting,
2827 16[shallreference] referencedthissection,[shallbe]wassentcertifiedmailreturn-receipt
28+17requestedtothetort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer,remainedopenforacceptancebytheliability
2929 EXPLANATION—Matterenclosedinbold-facedbrackets[thus] intheabovebillisnotenactedandis
30-intendedtobeomittedfromthelaw.Matterinbold-facetypeintheabovebillisproposedlanguage. 17requestedtothetort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer,remainedopenforacceptancebytheliability
31-18insurerforatleastninetydaysfromthedatesuchdemandwasreceivedbytheliability
30+intendedtobeomittedfromthelaw.Matterinbold-facetypeintheabovebillisproposedlanguage. 18insurerforatleastninetydaysfromthedatesuchdemandwasreceivedbytheliability
3231 19insurer,and[shallcontain] containedthefollowingadditionalmaterialterms:
3332 20 (1)Thetimeperiodwithinwhichtheoffershallremainopenforacceptancebythe
3433 21tort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer[, whichshallnotbeless]ifthetimeperiodforacceptanceis
3534 22morethanninetydaysfromthedatesuchdemandisreceivedbytheliabilityinsurer;
3635 23 (2)Theamountofmonetarypaymentrequestedorarequestfortheapplicablepolicy
3736 24limits;
3837 25 (3)Thedateandlocationoftheloss;
3938 26 (4)Theclaimnumber,ifknown;
4039 27 (5)Adescriptionofallknowninjuriessustainedbytheclaimant;
4140 28 (6)Thepartyorpartiestobereleasedifsuch[time-limited] settlementdemandis
4241 29accepted;
4342 30 (7)Adescriptionoftheclaimstobereleasedifsuch[time-limited] settlement
4443 31demandisaccepted;and
4544 32 (8)Anofferofunconditionalreleasefortheliabilityinsurer'sinsuredsfromall
4645 33presentandfutureliabilityforthatoccurrenceundersection537.060.
4746 34 3.Such[time-limited] settlementdemandshallbeaccompaniedby:
4847 35 (1)Alistofthenamesandaddressesofhealthcareproviderswhoprovidedtreatment
4948 36toorevaluationoftheclaimantordecedentforinjuriessufferedfromthedateofinjuryuntil
5049 37thedateofthe[time-limited] settlementdemand,andHIPAAcompliantwritten
5150 38authorizationssufficienttoallowtheliabilityinsurertoobtainsuchrecordsfromthe
5251 39healthcareproviderslisted;and
5352 40 (2)Alistofthenamesandaddressesofalltheclaimant'semployersatthetimethe
5453 41claimantwasfirstinjureduntilthedateofthe[time-limited] settlementdemand,andwritten
5554 42authorizationssufficienttoallowtheliabilityinsurertoobtainsuchrecordsfromall
5655 43employerslisted,iftheclaimantassertsalossofwages,earnings,compensation,orprofits
5756 44howeverdenominated.
5857 45 4.Ifaliabilityinsurerwiththerighttosettleonbehalfofaninsuredreceivesa[time-
5958 46limited] settlementdemand,suchinsurermayacceptthe[time-limited] settlementdemand
6059 47byprovidingwrittenacceptanceofthematerialtermsoutlinedinsubsection2ofthissection,
6160 48deliveredorpostmarkedtotheclaimantortheclaimant'srepresentativewithinthetimeperiod
6261 49[setinthetime-limited] inwhichthesettlementdemandisopenforacceptancebythe
6362 50liabilityinsurer,whichinnoeventshallbelessthanninetydays.
6463 51 5.Nothinginthissectionshallprohibitaclaimantmakinga[time-limited] settlement
6564 52demandfromrequiringpaymentwithinaspecifiedperiod;provided,however,thatsuch
66-HB437 2 53periodforpaymentshallnotbelessthantendaysaftertheinsurer'sreceiptofafullyexecuted
65+53periodforpaymentshallnotbelessthantendaysaftertheinsurer'sreceiptofafullyexecuted
6766 54unconditionalreleaseundersection537.060asspecifiedinsubsection2ofthissection.
68-55 6.Nothinginthissectionappliestooffersordemandsor[time-limited] settlement
67+HB437 2 55 6.Nothinginthissectionappliestooffersordemandsor[time-limited] settlement
6968 56demandsissuedwithinninetydaysofthetrialbyjuryofanyclaimonwhichalawsuithas
7069 57beenfiled.
7170 58 7.Inanylawsuitfiledbyaclaimantasanassigneeofthetort-feasororbythetort-
7271 59feasorforthebenefitoftheclaimant,a[time-limited] settlementdemandthatdoesnot
7372 60complywiththetermsofthissectionshallnotbeconsideredasareasonableopportunityto
7473 61settlefortheinsurerandshallnotbeadmissibleinanylawsuitallegingextracontractual
7574 62damagesagainstthetort-feasor'sliabilityinsurer.
7675 âś”
7776 HB437 3