Sec. 1. 24-A MRSA §2916-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1999, c. 617, §2, is further amended to read:

2. Accidents. When a named insured or any other person who operates a motor vehicle insured under the policy is individually or are aggregately involved in 2 or more vehicle accidents while operating a motor vehicle insured under the policy, resulting in either personal injury or property damage in excess of the amount defined as a reportable accident under Title 29-A, section 2251, subsection 1. For the purpose of this subsection any of the following occurrences involving a motor vehicle operated by a named insured or such other person is not considered an accident when:

A. The motor vehicle was struck from the rear;

B. The motor vehicle was struck while parked;

C. Only the operator of another motor vehicle involved in the accident was convicted of a crime, offense or violation contributing to the accident; or

D. The named insured or other operator of the motor vehicle insured under the policy or the insurer of the policy, was reimbursed by or on behalf of, a person responsible for the accident or has a judgment against that person.

When more than one motor vehicle in a household is insured by the same insurer, the aggregate number of accidents that would permit nonrenewal of the policy or policies insuring those vehicles must, for the aggregate, be increased by one for each additional motor vehicle insured.

SUMMARY

This bill clarifies that the number of accidents that would permit nonrenewal of an insurance policy insuring each additional motor vehicle is increased by one, no matter how many policies are issued for the motor vehicles.