I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4669 

To allow servicemembers to maintain their domicile for auto insurance 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2014 

Mr. ROYCE (for himself and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To allow servicemembers to maintain their domicile for auto 

insurance purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Servicemembers Insur5 ance Relief Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) When servicemembers move from one State 

9 to another they are required to go through a burdenVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:34 May 28, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4669.IH H4669

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1 some process of changing their auto insurance poli2 cies. 

3 (2) The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 

4 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.) allows the men and women 

5 serving in the United States Armed Forces to keep 

6 a stable domicile with respect to auto licensing and 

7 fees even if they are forced to move temporarily in 

8 compliance with military orders. 

9 (3) The Federal Insurance Office of the U.S. 

10 Department of the Treasury, in its report of Decem11 ber 12, 2013, on how to modernize and improve the 

12 system of insurance regulation in the United States, 

13 found that ‘‘an individual on active duty can trans14 fer credit cards, checking accounts, and other finan15 cial services simply by submitting a change of ad16 dress form. By contrast, an individual moving from 

17 one state to another may be required to obtain a 

18 new auto insurance policy on each transfer’’. Fur19 thermore the report called on interested parties ‘‘to 

20 identify a more accommodating approach for service 

21 members who have personal auto policies and are re22 quired to move across state lines’’. 

23 (4) Relief should be provided with respect to 

24 auto insurance policies for servicemembers and their 

25 families that are required to move in compliance 


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1 with any temporary duty or permanent change of 

2 station order. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to reduce 

4 the burdens and increase the protections involved in 

5 changing auto insurance policies for servicemembers and 

6 their families who are required to move in compliance with 

7 a temporary duty or permanent change of station order. 

8 SEC. 3. MAINTENANCE OF DOMICILE FOR INSURANCE PUR9 POSES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—A member of a household of a 

11 servicemember shall neither lose nor acquire a residence 

12 or domicile for purposes of insuring a motor vehicle used 

13 primarily for personal, family, or household use if— 

14 (1) in the case of a member of the household 

15 who is a servicemember, such servicemember has 

16 temporarily moved to comply with any temporary 

17 duty or permanent change of station order; or 

18 (2) in the case of any other member of the 

19 household, such member has temporarily moved to 

20 accompany a servicemember of such household who 

21 is complying with any temporary duty or permanent 

22 change of station order. 

23 (b) NOTICE.— 

24 (1) REQUIREMENT.—If a member of a house25 hold of a servicemember notifies an insurer of a 


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1 motor vehicle of such member of a move referred to 

2 in subsection (a), such insurer shall provide such 

3 member with a servicemembers insurance choice no4 tice under paragraph (2). 

5 (2) SERVICEMEMBERS INSURANCE CHOICE NO6 TICE.—The Director of the Federal Insurance Office 

7 of the Department of the Treasury shall promulgate, 

8 in compliance with the rulemaking requirements of 

9 subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States 

10 Code (commonly known as the Administrative Proce11 dure Act)— 

12 (A) a standard servicemembers insurance 

13 choice notice that shall— 

14 (i) summarize clearly and in plain lan15 guage the right of servicemembers and 

16 members of their households, in addition to 

17 options available under current law, to con18 tinue an existing auto insurance policy as 

19 allowed by the insurer with appropriate ad20 justments that relate only to location risk 

21 factors; 

22 (ii) include language notifying the 

23 servicemember that the insurer to whom 

24 the servicemember provided the notice of a 

25 move shall explain the coverage options 


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1 available to the servicemember as a result 

2 of the move; and 

3 (iii) include standard language that 

4 requires no alterations or additions for an 

5 insurer providing the notice to be fully in 

6 compliance with paragraph (1); and 

7 (B) standards regarding methods for 

8 transmittal of such notice to a member of a 

9 household of a servicemember that are suffi10 cient to comply with paragraph (1). 

11 (3) SAFE HARBOR.—Paragraph (1) may not be 

12 construed to impose any duty on an insurer who is 

13 notified of a move referred to in subsection (a) to 

14 determine whether the person providing such notice 

15 is a servicemember. 

16 (c) LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be 

17 construed to— 

18 (1) require a person to maintain an existing 

19 auto insurance policy; 

20 (2) allow an insurer to impose any penalties 

21 against a member of a household of a servicemember 

22 based solely on a decision to maintain or not main23 tain an existing auto insurance policy, as allowed by 

24 the insurer with appropriate adjustments that relate 

25 only to location risk factors; or 


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1 (3) require an insurer to continue providing 

2 coverage to such a member. 

3 (d) PREEMPTION.—The provisions of this Act shall 

4 supersede any and all State or local laws that conflict with 

5 this Act, including— 

6 (1) any State or local law that requires a mem7 ber of a household of a servicemember to change the 

8 auto insurance policy of such member; 

9 (2) any State or local law that seeks to assert 

10 control over the regulation of such policy other than 

11 by the State in which the auto insurance policy was 

12 issued or renewed; and 

13 (3) any State or local law regarding proof of in14 surance that prohibits the electronic delivery of in15 surance documents. 

16 (e) LIABILITY LIMITS.—Notwithstanding subsection 

17 (d)(2), the minimum security requirements for motor vehi18 cles of the State where a servicemember resides shall apply 

19 to an auto insurance policy of a member of such 

20 servicemember’s household. 

21 (f) ENFORCEMENT.—Authority to examine and en22 force insurer compliance with the provisions of this Act 

23 shall be held by the State in which the auto insurance pol24 icy was issued or renewed. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (a) MEMBER OF A HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘mem4 ber of a household’’ means, with respect to a servicemem5 ber— 

6 (1) the servicemember; 

7 (2) the spouse of the servicemember; or 

8 (3) any dependent residing with the service9 member or the spouse of the servicemember. 

10 (b) MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘motor vehicle’’ has 

11 the meaning given the term in section 30102(a)(6) of title 

12 49, United States Code. 

13 (c) SERVICEMEMBER.—The term ‘‘servicemember’’ 

14 means a member of the uniformed services, as such term 

15 is defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States 

16 Code, or of the National Guard or the reserve components 

17 thereof. 

18 (d) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 

19 several States of the United States, the District of Colum20 bia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

21 United States. 

22 (e) TEMPORARILY MOVED.—The term ‘‘temporarily 

23 moved’’ means, with respect to a person, that the person 

24 has moved from one State to another but has not decided 


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1 to reside indefinitely in the State to which such person 

2 moved. 

Æ 


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