(A)(1) The motorist insurance database program shall be administered by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Pursuant to the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code, the department may contract with a contractor who may provide a system of transmitting data from insurance companies. The department must solicit and receive at least two bids on the contract before awarding the contract.

(2) The department shall convene a working group chaired by the director of the department or his designee for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the program, assisting in development of regulations, and coordinating a testing phase, and necessary changes identified in this testing phase, as prescribed by the working group, and to issue recommendations based on periodic review of the database program by the working group. The working group shall consist of five representatives of the insurance industry appointed by the Director of the Department of Insurance. The working group shall also consist of the Director of the Department of Insurance, or his designee, the Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, or his designee, and any contractor. The working group shall issue a report to the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Insurance twelve months after the program is implemented to evaluate the program's effectiveness in identifying uninsured motorists, and annually thereafter on or before October fifteenth of each year. The working group may issue recommendations for database enhancements.

(B) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall develop, in a manner prescribed by the department, a system to allow the transmission of data from insurance companies to the department.

(C) The department, with input from the Department of Insurance, and the working group shall promulgate regulations for administering and enforcing this article. The regulations shall specify the requirements that are necessary and appropriate for commercial lines of insurance, as defined in Title 38, which shall be developed with input by the Department of Insurance.

(D) The department for a fee prescribed and promulgated by regulation shall make available to insurers by subscription a monthly electronic list of newly-licensed drivers. This list must not be used for marketing, solicitation, or another purpose not specifically enumerated here. It may only be used to provide an additional method to reduce the uninsured motorist population. This monthly list of newly-licensed drivers must show the: name and gender of the driver, address, date of birth, South Carolina driver's license number, and, if available, insurance information provided in the liability certification portion of the application for a driver's license. This information may be used for:

(1) determining if a newly-licensed driver is insured;

(2) assigning a newly-licensed driver to the proper automobile insurance policy for rating purposes; and

(3) ordering a motor vehicle report on a newly-licensed driver.

HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 324, Section 1; 2004 Act No. 241, Section 5.