VAIP News of Interest

• Revised Private Passenger Physical Damage Rates (11/08)    The Virginia Bureau of Insurance has approved a revision of  private passenger physical damage rates.  The reason for this revenue-neutral rate revision is to introduce physical damage rates for 2008 – 2010 model year vehicles in accordance with the approved Model Year Rating Program.   New manual pages reflecting these revisions have been made available on the electronic manual page.
  

• Liberty Mutual Terminates Servicing Carrier Agreement Effective (01/08) Liberty Mutual Insurance Company has recently terminated its Commercial Automobile Insurance Procedure (CAIP) Servicing Carrier agreement with the Virginia Plan and will no longer receive commercial assignments effective January 1, 2008.  As a result, National Continental/Progressive Insurance Company will receive all VA Plan commercial assignments beginning January 1, 2008 and until such time that an additional servicing carrier can be selected by the VA Board of Governors to service Plan commercial assignments.  After this date Liberty Mutual will non-renew existing commercial business as of the next expiration date of the policy and if the insured is unable to obtain coverage in the voluntary market, they may reapply to the Plan and will be reassigned to a newly designated company.

• Effective January 1, 2008, Virginia law requires persons convicted of certain DUI and other serious violations detailed in the Code of Virginia §18.2-51.4, §18.2-266 and §18.2-272 to purchase an insurance policy with liability coverage at least double the minimum Virginia limits. Transactions FR44, for certification, and FR46, for cancellation are the forms/transactions reporting the customer purchase of double coverage.

  For VAIP policies, available limits of 50/100/50 will comply with the new FR44 requirements. FR44 filings will be made online with DMV on original assignments, the same as our SR22 filings are currently handled. If an FR44 filing is needed on a previous assignment, the assigned company will need to make the filing.

  In conjunction with this change, a revised private passenger application will be available in the Forms Library beginning January 01, 2008. Visit DMV's web site for more information.

• Revised Commercial Rates (09/07)    The Virginia Bureau of Insurance has approved rate revisions for Other Than Private Passenger  liability and physical damage rates. These revisions are effective February 1, 2008 for new business and March 1, 2008 for renewal policies.  New manual pages reflecting these revisions will be available in the future.  See AGN (VA) 07-26  for more details.

• Plain Paper Application Forms Revised (May 1, 2007) The plain paper versions of the private passenger/motorcycle, commercial/truckers, and garage applications have been reformatted to mirror our EASi applications. If you have any of the older format applications in your office, please destroy and begin using the newly formatted applications immediately.

• Private Passenger Application Revised - Effective 05/01/07 - The Virginia Bureau of Insurance has mandated that a revised version of the Personal Auto Policy (PAP January 2005 version) and related endorsements be used on all VAIP policies beginning May 1, 2007.  In conjunction with these changes, a new manual distribution (VA 2007 Revision 001) has been issued effective May 1, 2007.  Below is a summary of the manual changes:

  • Rule 11 is deleted in its entirety, as it is no longer necessary because audio, visual, and data electronic equipment coverage is automatically provided under the physical damage provision of the PAP with no additional charge.
  • Rule 26 is amended to introduce the option of excluding coverage for public or livery conveyances and to revise the premium development provisions.
  • Rule 33 is amended to (1) reflect the option to exclude coverage for autos furnished or available for the insured’s regular use, (2) state that coverage may be purchased for a resident relative of the named individual, and (3) clarify and simplify the rule.

  Due to these rule changes, revisions have also been made to the Virginia private passenger application (plain paper and EASi versions).  In conjunction with these necessary changes, the plain paper application has also been reformatted to mirror the current EASi application.  The revised version of the application will be available both through EASi and to be downloaded as a plain paper version through our Forms Library beginning May 1, 2007.

• National Producer Numbers (9/06)  The VA Bureau of Insurance has implemented use of the National Producer Number (NPN). The producer's NPN is now printed on new and duplicate licenses issued by the Bureau. For purposes of becoming certified through VAIP and/or submitting applications, you should continue to use your social security/DMV assigned number in the producer license number field on these documents. The VAIP is in the process of making system changes to be able to accommodate NPNs.
  

• Plan Manual Updates
  In order to receive updates of the Plan manual, Important Notices, and Circulars, your subscription to the Plan must be renewed every year. Producers who fail to maintain their subscription run the risk of not receiving the above documents. In lieu of maintaining a subscription to the paper manual, you may choose to access and/or download these documents free of charge on this website. You may also choose to sign up for a free automated service that e-mails you whenever AIPSO updates the manual by using the sign-up page provided on this website. Should you need to check or verify whether you are currently signed up to receive your Important Notices or Circulars, you may call Mail Order Management at (401) 942-9799. Please be prepared to provide your name and/or agency name and producer certification number.