§431:10C-407 Classifications. (a) The commissioner shall establish classifications of eligible persons and uses for which the joint underwriting plan shall provide both the required motor vehicle insurance policies and any optional additional insurance an eligible person or user applies for. The commissioner shall, by rule, establish, implement, and supervise the joint underwriting plan, through the bureau, assuring that insurance for motor vehicles will be conveniently and expeditiously afforded, subject only to payment or provision for payment of the premium, to all applicants for insurance required by this part to provide insurance for payment of bodily injury and property damage liability insurance, or optional additional benefits, and who cannot reasonably obtain insurance at rates not in excess of those applicable to applicants under the plan, or who otherwise are in good faith entitled to, but unable to obtain, the insurance through ordinary methods.
(b) The plan shall provide all personal injury protection benefits and services and bodily injury and property damage liability coverages to the limits and coverages specified in this article for all classes of persons, motor vehicles, and motor vehicle uses specified in this part upon the payment of premiums as provided in subpart C, as follows:
(1) The plan shall provide personal injury protection benefits and policies for each of the following classes, and each class shall be able to secure a personal injury protection and bodily injury and property damage liability policy through the plan:
(A) All motor vehicles owned by licensed assigned risk drivers as the commissioner, by rules, shall define. The commissioner shall regulate the class in accordance with the general practice of the industry, the applicable results, if any, of the commissioner's examination of the motor vehicle insurers' business records and experience, and any applicable and scientifically credible governmental or academic studies of the multi-accident or high-risk motor vehicle driver;
(B) All motor vehicles owned by licensed drivers convicted within the thirty-six months immediately preceding the date of application, in any jurisdiction of any one or more of the offenses of, or of the offenses cognate to:
(i) Heedless and careless driving;
(ii) Driving while license suspended or revoked;
(iii) Leaving the scene of an accident;
(iv) Manslaughter, if resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle;
(v) Operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant as provided in section 291E-61; or
(vi) Driving under the influence of an intoxicating liquor as provided in section 291-4 or any drug as provided in section 291-7, as those sections were in effect on or before December 31, 2001;
(C) All commercial uses, first class, defined as any commercial use engaged in the transport of passengers for hire or gratuity;
(D) All commercial uses, second class, defined as any commercial, business, or institutional use other than the transport of passengers as described in subparagraph (C) or the exclusive use of a vehicle for domestic-household-familial purposes; and
(E) All other motor vehicles, not classified under subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D), owned by licensed drivers who are unable to obtain motor vehicle insurance policies and optional additional insurance through ordinary methods;
(2) The plan shall provide personal injury protection benefits and bodily injury and property damage policies for all classes of persons, motor vehicles, and motor vehicle uses, at the premiums specified under subpart C, at the option of the owners, for the following classes, which the commissioner, by rules, shall further define and regulate:
(A) All licensed drivers, or unlicensed permanently disabled individuals unable to operate their motor vehicles, who are receiving public assistance benefits consisting of direct cash payments, or who received public assistance benefits in the form of medical services prior to July 1, 1994, and are still receiving the benefits, through the department of human services, or benefits from the Supplemental Security Income program under the Social Security Administration; provided that the licensed drivers, or unlicensed permanently disabled individuals unable to operate their motor vehicles, are the sole registered owners of the motor vehicles to be insured; provided further that not more than one vehicle per public assistance unit shall be insured under this part, unless extra vehicles are approved by the department of human services as being necessary for medical or employment purposes; provided further that the motor vehicle to be insured shall be used strictly for personal purposes, and not for commercial purposes;
(B) Any licensed physically handicapped driver, including drivers with any auditory limitation; and
(C) Any licensed driver who is a minor under foster care and whose parents are unable to pay for the minor's motor vehicle insurance as provided in [section 346-17.3].
Each category of driver/owner under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) may secure motor vehicle insurance coverage through the plan at the individual's option; provided any previous motor vehicle insurance policy has expired or has been canceled. Any person becoming eligible for plan coverage under subparagraph (A) shall first exhaust all paid coverage under any motor vehicle insurance policy then in force before becoming eligible for plan coverage.
Any person eligible or becoming eligible under rules adopted by the commissioner under subparagraph (B) or (C) may at any time elect coverage under the plan and terminate any prior private insurer's coverage.
A certificate shall be issued by the department of human services indicating that the person is a bona fide public assistance recipient as defined in subparagraph (A). The certificate shall be deemed a policy for the purposes of this chapter upon the issuance of a valid motor vehicle insurance identification card pursuant to section 431:10C-107; and
(3) Under the joint underwriting plan, the required motor vehicle policy coverages as provided in section 431:10C-301 shall be offered by every insurer to each eligible applicant assigned by the bureau. In addition, uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverages shall be offered in conformance with section 431:10C-301, and optional additional coverages shall be offered in conformance with section 431:10C-302, for each class except the class defined in paragraph (2)(A), as the commissioner, by rules, shall provide.
(c) The commissioner may further refine the definitions of the classifications provided for in subsection (b). [L 1987, c 347, pt of §2; am L 1990, c 253, §2; am L 1993, c 205, §29; am L Sp 1993, c 4, §7; am L 1994, c 225, §1; am L 1997, c 251, §51; am L 1998, c 275, §31; am L 1999, c 142, §3; am L 2001, c 157, §32; am L 2006, c 289, §4]