The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall, for the purposes of this chapter have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

(1) "Insured motor vehicle": A motor vehicle as to which there is bodily injury liability insurance and property damage liability insurance, meeting all of the requirements of item (7) of this section, or as to which a bond has been given or cash or securities delivered in lieu of such insurance or as to which the owner has qualified as a self-insurer in accordance with the provisions of Section 56-9-60;

(2) "Judgment": Any judgment which shall have become final by expiration without appeal of the time within which an appeal might have been perfected or by final affirmation on appeal, rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction of any state of the United States, upon a cause of action arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of any motor vehicle, for damages, including damages for care and loss of service, because of bodily injury to or death of any person or for damages because of injury to or destruction of property, including the loss of use thereof, or upon a cause of action on an agreement of settlement for such damages;

(3) "License": Any license, temporary instruction permit or temporary license issued under the laws of this State pertaining to the licensing of persons to operate vehicles;

(4) "Motor vehicle": Every self-propelled vehicle which is designed for use upon a highway, including trailers and semitrailers designed for use with such vehicles but excepting traction engines, road rollers, farm tractors, tractor cranes, power shovels, mopeds, and well drillers, and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead wires but not operated upon rails;.

(5) "Motor vehicle liability policy": An owner's or an operator's policy of liability insurance that fulfills all the requirements of Sections 38-77-140 through 38-77-230, certified as provided in Section 56-9-550 or 56-9-560 as proof of financial responsibility and issued, except as otherwise provided in Section 56-9-560, by an insurance carrier duly authorized to transact business in this State, to or for the benefit of the person or persons named therein as insured, and any other person, as insured, using the vehicle described therein with the express or implied permission of the named insured, and subject to the following special conditions:

(a) Contents of motor vehicle liability policy. The motor vehicle liability policy shall state the name and address of the named insured, the coverage afforded by the policy, the premium charged therefor, the policy period, and the limits of liability and shall contain an agreement or be endorsed that insurance is provided thereunder in accordance with the coverage defined in this chapter as respects bodily injury and death or property damage, or both, and is subject to all of the provisions of this chapter.

(b) Provisions deemed incorporated in such policy. Every motor vehicle liability policy is subject to the following provisions, which need not be contained therein:

(1) The liability of the insurance carrier with respect to the insurance required by this chapter shall become absolute whenever injury or damage covered by the motor vehicle liability policy occurs;

(2) The policy may not be cancelled or annulled as to the liability by any agreement between the insurance carrier and the insured after the occurrence of the injury or damage;

(3) No Statement made by the insured or on his behalf and no violation of the policy shall defeat or void the policy;

(4) The satisfaction by the insured of a judgment for the injury or damage shall not be a condition precedent to the right or duty of the insurance carrier to make payment on account of the injury or damage;

(5) The insurance carrier shall have the right to settle any claim covered by the policy, and if the settlement is made in good faith, the amount thereof shall be deductible from the limits of liability specified in Section 38-77-140; and

(6) The policy, written application therefor, if any, and any rider or endorsement which does not conflict with the provisions of this chapter shall constitute the entire contract between the parties.

(c) What policy need not cover. The motor vehicle liability policy need not insure any liability under the Workers' Compensation Law nor any liability on account of bodily injury to or death of an employee of the insured while engaged in the employment, other than domestic, of the insured, or while engaged in the operation, maintenance, or repair of the motor vehicle, nor any liability for damage to property owned by, rented to, in charge of, or transported by the insured.

(d) Additional coverage permitted. Any policy which grants the coverage required for a motor vehicle liability policy may also grant any lawful coverage in excess of or in addition to the coverage specified for a motor vehicle liability policy and the excess or additional coverage shall not be subject to the provisions of this chapter. With respect to a policy which grants this excess or additional coverage, the term "motor vehicle liability policy" shall apply only to that part of the coverage which is required by this article.

(e) Additional permissible provisions. Any motor vehicle liability policy may provide:

(1) That the insured shall reimburse the insurance carrier for any payment the insurance carrier would not have been obligated to make under the terms of the policy except for the provisions of this chapter; and

(2) For the prorating of the insurance thereunder with other valid and collectible insurance.

(f) Requirements may be met by several policies. The requirements for a motor vehicle liability policy may be fulfilled by the policies of one or more insurance carriers which policies together meet such requirements.

(g) Legal binder deemed to meet requirements. Any legal binder issued pending the issuance of a motor vehicle liability policy shall be considered as fulfilling the requirements for such policy.

(h) Notice required to cancel certified policy; cancellation by subsequent policy. When an insurance carrier has certified a motor vehicle liability policy under Sections 56-9-550 or 56-9-560, the insurance so certified shall not be cancelled or terminated until at least ten days after a notice of cancellation or termination of the insurance certified shall be filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles, except that a policy subsequently procured and certified shall at 12:01 A. M., on the effective date of its certification, terminate the insurance previously certified with respect to any motor vehicle designated in both certificates.

(i) Other required policies unaffected. This chapter shall not be held to apply to or affect policies of automobile insurance against liability insuring public carriers or policies which may be required by any other law of this State, any law or ordinance of any municipality or any law or regulation of the United States or any of its agencies, and those policies, if they contain an agreement or are endorsed to conform with the requirements of this chapter, may be certified as proof of financial responsibility under this chapter.

(j) Chapter inapplicable to policies covering use by employees, etc., of vehicles not owned by insured. This chapter shall not be held to apply to or affect policies insuring solely the insured named in the policy against liability resulting from the maintenance or use by the persons in the insured's employ or on his behalf of motor vehicles not owned by the insured;

(6) "Nonresident": Every person who is not a resident of this State;

(7) "Nonresident operating privilege": The privilege conferred upon a nonresident by the laws of this State pertaining to the operation by him of a motor vehicle or the use of a motor vehicle owned by him in this State;

(8) "Operator": Every person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle, whether or not licensed as an operator or chauffeur under the laws of this State;

(9) "Owner": A person who holds the legal title of a motor vehicle, or, in the event a motor vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be considered the owner for the purposes of this chapter;

(10) "Person": Every natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation;

(11) "Proof of financial responsibility": Proof of ability to respond to damages for liability, as provided in Section 38-77-150, or, on account of accidents occurring after the effective date of this proof, arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident and, subject to this limit for one person, in the amount of fifty thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident and in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident;

(12) "Registration": Registration certificates and registration or license plates issued under the laws of this State pertaining to the license and registration of motor vehicles;

(13) "State": Any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or any province of the Dominion of Canada; and

(14) "Uninsured motor vehicle": Any motor vehicle which is not an insured motor vehicle as defined in item (3) of this section.

(15) "Uninsured Motorist Fund" means a fund established for fees collected by the director of the Department of Motor Vehicles from registration of uninsured vehicles.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-702; 1952 (47) 1853; 1959 (51) 567; 1963 (53) 523; 1977 Act No. 80 Section 1; 1986 Act No. 528, Section 12; 1987 Act No. 155, Sections 18-21; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1472; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 246A; 1997 Act No. 154, Section 1; 2003 Act No. 73, Section 18; 2013 Act No. 47, Section 2, eff January 1, 2014.