 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Piersa v. Phoenix Insurance Co.5/10/2005
rent from that definition, we prefer to follow the former course of interpretation.
The defendant also argues that, under § 38a-371 (c), a municipal self-insurer, unlike other self-insurers, need only file with the commissioner "a notice that it is a self-insurer." General Statutes § 38a-371 (c). From this, the defendant contends that "the legislature presumes [that] a municipality has the financial solvency to meet its obligations; it presumes that the municipality itself is the only entity that need have `evidence' of its terms and obligations; and/or it evidences the legislature's attempt to lessen the paperwork that usually evidences all of the provisions of insurance." We disagree that this single sentence of § 38a-371 (c) has the meaning that the defendant attributes to it, namely, that by filing such a notice with the commissioner a municipal self-insurer necessarily and as a matter of law invokes the minimum coverage permitted by law and all of the permitted further limits on that coverage.
Section 38a-371 (a) (1) provides, in general terms, that an owner of a private passenger motor vehicle must maintain the "security in accordance with sections 38a-334 to 38a-343, inclusive." This includes the uninsured motorist coverage required by § 38a-336.
Subsection (c) of § 38a-371; see footnote 8 of this opinion; addresses the issue of self-insurance. It provides that, subject to the approval of the commissioner, the security "may be provided by self-insurance" by the owner's filing with the commissioner documents indicating three essential things: (1) a "continuing undertaking by the owner" to perform all of the obligations imposed by § 38a-371; (2) evidence of the prompt and efficient administration of claims, benefits and obligations provided by the section; and (3) evidence of sufficient financial responsibility "substantially equivalent to those afforded by a policy of insurance that would comply with" the section's obligations. General Statutes § 38a-371 (c). The penultimate sentence of subsection (c) of § 38a-371 provides: "A person who provides security under this subsection is a self-insurer.
. . ." The last sentence, upon which the defendant relies, provides: "A municipality may provide the security required under this section by filing with the commissioner a notice that it is a self-insurer." General Statutes § 38a-371 (c).
This last sentence was enacted by the legislature as No. 82-145 of the 1982 Public Acts, entitled "An Act Concerning The Exemption Of Municipalities From The Self-Insurance Certificate Filing Requirement." The legislative history of the act indicates that it was intended to relieve self-insuring municipalities from the same filing requirements imposed on other self-insurers, and, correspondingly, to relieve the insurance department from maintaining the same records regarding such municipalities as it does regarding other self-insurers. That same legislative history, however, also indicates that the legislature viewed this as a measure designed to simplify filing requirements, but also contemplated that the municipality nonetheless would be the repository of at least some other necessary information.
There is nothing in either the language of the act or its purpose to suggest that it was designed to create a presumption that silence by a municipality in this filing regarding the scope of coverage would mean that the minimum coverage and all permitted reductions in limits were applicable as a matter of law. Put another way, this sentence simply cannot carry the weight that the defendant attributes to it.
The defendant next argues that case law has not required a written document from municipal self
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Connecticut Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|