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Senate passes bill mandating disclosure of policy limits

Last week, the Senate passed a bill that would require automobile insurers to disclose policy limits upon a request by an attorney under certain circumstances. S-1558 (Scutari)/A-3444 (Bramnick) provides that an insurer who receives a request from an attorney for disclosure of policy limits under a private passenger auto insurance policy shall provide written disclosure of the policy limits to the attorney within 30 days from receipt of the request. The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) supported the legislation with amendments that were made to the bill.

The NJSBA successfully requested that there be confirmation that nothing in the bill would constitute a waiver or would stop an insurer from raising any coverage issue or asserting any coverage defense, including a requirement that the insured receive notice from the insurer that a request was made for disclosure of the policy limits, and that the limits would be disclosed to all insurers that may be involved, in order to facilitate the coordination of coverage.

The bill remains pending in the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee. The NJSBA continues to monitor this bill.