On May 30, 2015, the Maryland General Assembly voted to
enact a bill that has a significant impact on an Insurer’s requirement to
disclose policy limits in the pre-litigation phase of a case.
Senate Bill 146, which went into effect on October 1, 2015,
repeals certain prior requirements before policy limits may be disclosed
pre-litigation. Previously, a claimant was
able to obtain documentation of a tortfeasor’s policy limits only after providing
in writing: the date of the accident; name and last known address of the
alleged tortfeasor; a copy of the vehicle accident report, if available; the
insurer’s claim number, if available; health care bills and documentation of
the claimant’s loss of income resulting from the vehicle accident, and
treatment records for the claimant’s injuries caused by the accident. The applicable limits of coverage was then
disclosed if the amount of the health care bills and loss of income documented
by the claimant was at least $12,500.00. Under the prior regulations, claimants
were often forced to file suit and obtain policy limits information during the
discovery phase of proceedings.
Under the new law, a claimant may obtain documentation of
policy limits by simply providing: the date of the accident; the name and last
known address of the alleged tortfeasor; a copy of the accident report if
available; and the insurer’s claim number, if available. There is no longer a requirement to provide
copies of health care bills, treatment records, or documentation of loss of
income. Further, the damages threshold
of $12,500.00 has been removed. As such,
expect that there will be a substantial increase in requests for policy limits,
perhaps even included in an initial notice of representation.
Please contact an attorney at RSR&M if you have
questions about this law or how it applies to your claim handling.
Contributed by Tara A. Barnes
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