HARRY HUGHES, Governor

1789

CHAPTER 655

(House Bill 1614)

AN ACT concerning

Automobile Insurance - Premium Notices

FOR the purpose of providing that premium surcharge notices
may be sent by certificate of mailing.

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,

Article 48A - Insurance Code

Section 240AA (b)

Annotated Code of Maryland

{1972 Replacement Volume and 1978 Supplement)

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That section(s) of the Annotated Code of Maryland
be repealed, amended, or enacted to read as follows:

Article 48A — Insurance Code

240AA.

(b) An insurer intending to take an action subject to
the provisions of this section shall, on or before
forty—five days prior to the proposed effective date of the
action, send written notice [by certified mail] of its
intended action to the insured at his last known address. A
WRITTEN NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OR NONRENEWAL SHALL BE SENT
BY CERTIFIED MAIL. ALL OTHER NOTICES OF ACTION SUBJECT TO
THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE SENT BY CERTIFICATE
OF MAILING. The notice shall be in triplicate, and shall
state in clear and specific terms, on a form approved by the
Commissioner:

(i) The proposed action to be taken, including,
if the action is an increase in premium or reduction in
coverage, the amount of increase and the type of coverage to
which it is applicable, or the type of coverage reduced and
the extent of the reduction;

(ii) The proposed effective date of the action;

(iii) The insurer's actual reason or reasons for
proposing to take such action. The statement of reasons
shall be sufficiently clear and specific so that a person of
average intelligence can identify the basis for the
insurer's decision, without making further inquiry.
Generalized terms such as "personal habits," "living