Consumers were lucky because insurance had changed
The several bills were passed by the Legislature this year. The several bills could affect us all as property and casualty insurance consumers. The requirement that individuals present a valid S.C. driver’s license in order to buy auto insurance had been removed by H.3373.
Therefore, it means that snow-birds, military personnel and others who weren’t full-time S.C. residents could buy insurance with a driver’s license from another jurisdiction. It was public policy to allow all drivers got insurance because drivers would be more protected on our roadways. H.3332 needs insurers to give premium credits to drivers who participate in qualifying driver training programs.
Each insurer would determine the three-year discount and companies might require customers to be accident-free in order to sustain the credit. A provision of the tort reform law, which took effect on January, required auto insurance companies to reveal private information, for instance liability limits and coverage, to litigant attorneys upon request.
It was a change from our current law, where policyholder information could be withheld until after a lawsuit had been filed while other states had similar laws. As the result, the theft of copper had curbed by this law and it would help residential and business policyholders as well as insurers. Insurance companies have cooperated with farmers, law enforcement and scrap dealers to pass this law.