§ 3440 — Insurance covering private passenger motor vehicles; rental vehicle coverage

§ 3440. Insurance covering private passenger motor vehicles; rental\nvehicle coverage. (a) For the purposes of this section, a "private\npassenger motor vehicle" is a motor vehicle: (1) of the private\npassenger or station wagon type that is owned or hired by an individual\nor by husband and wife under a long-term contract and is neither used as\na public or livery conveyance for passengers nor rented to others\nwithout a driver; or\n (2) with a pick-up body, a delivery sedan, panel truck or van, owned\nby an individual or by husband and wife who are residents of the same\nhousehold or by a family farm co-partnership or a family farm\ncorporation, and not customarily used in the occupation, profession or\nbusiness of the insured other than farming or ranching, whether or not\nused in the course of driving to or from work.\n (b) Subject to subsection (d) of this section, every motor vehicle\nliability insurance policy which insures less than five private\npassenger motor vehicles registered in this state shall by endorsement,\nprovide coverage for the obligation of the insured for actual damage to,\nor loss of, vehicles (including loss of use) rented by an insured in the\nUnited States, its territories or possessions and Canada under a rental\nagreement with a term of thirty continuous days or less, regardless of\nwhere within those areas such rental vehicle is registered, rented, or\noperated, subject to such maximum coverage limitations as the\nsuperintendent may by regulation prescribe or any other applicable\nlimits in the policy, whichever is higher. The term "rental vehicle"\nshall be used as defined in section one hundred thirty-seven-a of the\nvehicle and traffic law, if a private passenger motor vehicle and not\nused for the transportation of persons or property for hire.\n (c) In no event shall payment be made by more than one insurer or\nunder more than one policy, and where a person is insured under more\nthan one policy, such coverage shall apply in the following order of\npriority: (1) the policy or policies with respect to which the person is\na named insured; (2) if the person is not a named insured on any policy,\nthe policy with respect to which the person is an insured; (3) where two\nor more policies provide coverage of equal priority, the insurer to\nwhich the claim is first submitted.\n (d) (1) Every policy to which this section applies shall, either upon\nissuance or upon the first renewal after April first, nineteen hundred\neighty-nine, be accompanied or supplemented by a notice, in a form\nprescribed or approved by the superintendent, advising the insured of\nthe rental vehicle coverage provided pursuant to this section.\n (2) In the event that a separate charge based upon rental vehicle\ncoverage experience is included in the rate or policy premium, the\ninsurer shall thereafter advise each new insured and with the initial\nrenewal notice for policies thereafter renewed of the insured's\nopportunity to reject such coverage within ten days following such\nnotice.\n (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require an insurer\nto make payment under the coverage herein for damage to, or loss of, a\nrental vehicle (including loss of use) which the rental vehicle company\nis precluded from recovering from the insured whether pursuant to the\nterms of the rental agreement or due to the prohibitions of section\nthree hundred ninety-six-z of the general business law or similar\nstatutory provisions of other jurisdictions; or which is not otherwise\nrecoverable under the applicable insurance policy or policies.\n (f) Nothing in this section shall preclude an insurer from pursuing\nsubrogation rights in connection with claims involving rental vehicle\ncoverage.\n