                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

MOTOR VEHICLE INSURER NOT TO CHARGE POINTS OR INCREASE PREMIUMS IN CERTAIN
INSTANCES (§ 38.2-1905)

A. No insurer may increase its insured&#8217;s premium or may charge points
under a safe driver insurance plan to its insured as a result of a motor vehicle
accident unless the accident was caused either wholly or partially by the named
insured, a resident of the same household, or other customary operator. No
insurer may increase its insured&#8217;s premium or may charge points to its
insured where the operator causing the accident is a principal operator insured
under a separate policy. Any insurer increasing a premium or charging points as
a result of a motor vehicle accident shall notify the named insured in writing
and in the same notification shall inform the named insured that he may appeal
the decision of the insurer to the Commissioner if he feels his premium has
increased or he has been charged points as a result of a motor vehicle accident
without just cause. Such notice shall include the requirements that the appeal
be in writing and made within 60 days of receipt of the notice of any premium
increase adjustment or of any point charge resulting from a motor vehicle
accident.

B. An appeal of a premium increase or of a point charge by the named insured
shall be requested in writing within sixty days of receipt of the notice of any
premium adjustment or of any point charge resulting from a motor vehicle
accident. Upon receipt of the request, the Commissioner shall promptly initiate
a review to determine whether the premium increase or the point charge is
justified. The premium increase or the point charge shall remain in full force
and effect until the Commissioner rules that the premium be adjusted or the
point charge be removed because it is not justified, or because the point charge
was not assigned in accord with the insurer&#8217;s filed rating plan, and so
notifies the insurer and the insured. Upon receipt of the ruling, the insurer
shall promptly refund any premiums paid as a direct result of the premium
increase or the point charge, and shall adjust future billings to reflect the
Commissioner&#8217;s ruling.

C. No insurer shall assign points under a safe-driver insurance policy to any
vehicle other than the vehicle customarily driven by the operator responsible
for incurring points.

D. If an insured is a law-enforcement officer, as defined in &#xA7; 9.1-101, no
insurer may increase such insured&#8217;s personal insurance premium or may
charge points under a safe driver insurance plan to such insured as a result of
an accident which occurred in the course of the insured&#8217;s employment as a
law-enforcement officer while the insured was driving a motor vehicle provided
by the employing law-enforcement agency and was engaged in a law-enforcement
activity at the time of such accident.

HISTORY: 1981, c. 243, § 38.1-279.33:1; 1986, c. 562; 1990, cc. 275, 960; 1994,
c. 925; 2016, c. 558.