Public Act 098-0521
 
SB1775 EnrolledLRB098 07835 MLW 37917 b


  
    AN ACT concerning transportation.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  

  
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Insurance Code is amended  by adding 
Section 143.33 as follows:
 
    (215 ILCS 5/143.33 new)
    Sec. 143.33. Electronic posting of policies.
    (a) Policies and endorsements used by a company for 
transacting insurance as classified in Class 2 and Class 3 of 
Section 4 of this Code that do not contain personally 
identifiable information may be mailed, issued, delivered, or 
posted on the insurer's Internet website.  If the insurer elects 
to post the insurance policies and endorsements on its Internet 
website in lieu of mailing, issuing, or delivering them to the 
insured, then the insurer must comply with all of the following 
conditions:
        (1) The policy and endorsements must be easily 
    accessible to the insured and the producer of record and 
    remain that way for as long as the policy is in force;
        (2) After the expiration of the policy, the insurer 
    must archive its expired policies and endorsements for the 
    longer of  5 years or other period required by law, and make 
    them available upon request;
        (3) The policies and endorsements must be posted in a 
    manner that enables the insured and the producer of record 
    to print and save the policy and endorsements using 
    programs or applications that are widely available on the 
    Internet and free to use;
        (4) At the time of issuance of the original policy and 
    any renewals of that policy, the insurer provides to the 
    insured in the manner it customarily provides declarations 
    pages to the insured, and to the producer of record,  the 
    following information clearly displayed in or 
    simultaneously with a declarations page:
            (A) a description of the exact policy and 
        endorsement forms purchased by the insured;
            (B) a method by which the insured may obtain from 
        the insurer, upon request and without charge, a paper 
        copy of their policy and endorsements; and
            (C) the Internet address where their policy and 
        endorsements are posted. 
        (5) The insurer provides to the insured in the manner 
    it customarily provides declarations pages to the insured,  
    and to the producer of record, notice of any changes to the 
    forms or endorsements; the insured's right to obtain from 
    the insurer, upon request and without charge, a paper copy 
    of these forms or endorsements; and the Internet address 
    where these forms or endorsements are posted.
    (b) Nothing in this Section shall prevent an insurer that 
posts its policies and endorsements electronically in 
accordance with this Section from offering a discount to an 
insured who elects to receive notices and documents 
electronically in accordance with the provisions of the federal 
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.
    (c) Nothing in this Section affects the timing or content 
of any disclosure or other document required to be provided or 
made available to any insured under any statute, rule, 
regulation, or rule of law. 
 
    Section 10. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended  by 
changing Section 7-602 as follows:
 



    (625 ILCS 5/7-602)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 7-602)



    Sec. 7-602. Insurance card. Every operator of a motor 
vehicle subject
to Section 7-601 of this Code shall carry 
within the vehicle evidence of
insurance.  The evidence shall be 
legible and sufficient to demonstrate
that the motor vehicle 
currently is covered by a liability insurance policy
as 
required under Section 7-601 of this Code and may include, but 
is not
limited to, the following:


        (a) an insurance card provided by the insurer under 
    this Section;


        (b) the combination of proof of purchase of the motor 
    vehicle within
the previous 60 days and a current insurance 
    card issued for the motor
vehicle replaced by such 
    purchase;


        (c) the current declarations page of a liability

    insurance policy;


        (d) a liability insurance binder, certificate
of 
    liability insurance or receipt for payment to an insurer or 
    its
authorized representative for a liability insurance 
    premium, provided such
document contains all information 
    the Secretary of State by rule and
regulation may require;


        (e) a current rental agreement;


        (f) registration plates, registration sticker or other 
    evidence of
registration issued by the Secretary only upon 
    submission of proof of
liability insurance pursuant to this 
    Code;


        (g) a certificate, decal, or other document or device 
    issued by a
governmental agency for a motor vehicle 
    indicating the vehicle is insured
for liability pursuant to 
    law; .

        (h) the display of electronic images on a cellular 
    phone or other type of portable electronic device.  The use 
    of a cellular phone or other type of portable electronic 
    device to display proof of insurance does not constitute 
    consent for a law enforcement officer, court, or other 
    officer of the court to access other contents of the 
    electronic device. Any law enforcement officer, court, or 
    officer of the court presented with the device shall be 
    immune from any liability resulting from damage to the 
    mobile electronic device. 
    An insurance card shall be provided for each motor
vehicle 
insured by the insurer issuing the liability insurance policy 
and may be issued in either paper or electronic format.  
Acceptable electronic formats shall permit display on a 
cellular phone or other portable electronic device and satisfy 
all other requirements of law and rule, including this Section, 
regarding form and content. 

    The form, contents and manner of issuance of the insurance 
card shall be
prescribed by rules and regulations of the 
Secretary of State.  The Secretary shall adopt rules requiring 
that reasonable measures be taken to prevent the fraudulent 
production of insurance cards. The
insurance card shall display 
an effective date and an expiration date
covering a period of 
time not to exceed 12 months.  The insurance card
shall contain 
the following disclaimer: "Examine policy exclusions

carefully.  This form does not constitute any part of your 
insurance policy."
If the insurance policy represented by the 
insurance card does
not cover any driver operating the motor 
vehicle with the owner's
permission, or the owner when 
operating a motor vehicle other than the
vehicle for which the 
policy is issued, the insurance card shall
contain a warning of 
such limitations in the coverage provided by the
policy.

    No insurer shall issue a card, similar in appearance, form 
and content
to the insurance card required under this Section, 
in connection with an
insurance policy that does not provide 
the liability insurance coverage
required under Section 7-601 
of this Code.

    The evidence of insurance shall be displayed upon request 
made by any law
enforcement officer wearing a uniform or 
displaying a badge or other sign
of authority.  Any person who 
fails or refuses to comply with such request
is in violation of 
Section 3-707 of this Code.  Any person who displays
evidence of 
insurance, knowing there is no valid liability insurance in

effect on the motor vehicle as required under Section 7-601 of 
this Code or
knowing the evidence of insurance is illegally 
altered, counterfeit or
otherwise invalid, is in violation of 
Section 3-710 of this Code.

    "Display" means the manual surrender of the evidence of 
insurance into
the hands of the law enforcement officer, court, 
or officer of the court
making the request for the
officer's, 
court's, or officer of the court's inspection thereof.

(Source: P.A. 93-719, eff. 1-1-05.)

 

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.