Senate moves motor-vehicle liability bill that formalizes exclusions and signer requirements

House Bill 423, presented by Senator Hilliard, would allow family or household members to be expressly excluded from coverage on a family policy provided certain steps are followed: at the time of the exclusion, the insurer must obtain signatures from the named insured(s) and the excluded person acknowledging the exclusion, and the excluded person must present proof of a separate insurance policy covering them on the vehicle they drive. The lender or lienholder must also be notified so they can ensure coverage exists for collateralized vehicles.

Senators questioned scenarios a sponsor acknowledged as possible weaknesses: for example, if a teenager who is excluded briefly uses the family car when their own vehicle is unavailable, that person might not be covered under the family vehicle's policy in that moment and could be treated as an uninsured motorist. Senator Hellowell and others pressed the sponsor on whether the change would increase uninsured drivers or shift liability. The sponsor repeatedly emphasized the bill formalizes a choice some families already make and requires explicit documentation to prevent inadvertent exclusions.

After discussion the chamber called the question under suspension of the rules. The clerk reported 25 aye votes, no nays and four absences; House Bill 423 was placed on the third-reading calendar.

The floor debate centered on consumer-protection tradeoffs between lowering premiums for some families and ensuring coverage consistency for households with intermittent vehicle sharing.