California Insurance Code 661 – (a) A notice of cancellation of a policy shall be effective only …
(a) A notice of cancellation of a policy shall be effective only if it is based on one or more of the following reasons:
(1) Nonpayment of premium.
Terms Used In California Insurance Code 661
- Automobile physical damage coverage: includes all coverage of loss or damage to an automobile insured under the policy except loss or damage resulting from collision or upset. See California Insurance Code 660
- Cancellation: means termination of coverage by an insurer (other than termination at the request of the insured) during a policy period. See California Insurance Code 660
- Commissioner: means the Insurance Commissioner of this State. See California Insurance Code 20
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Nonrenewal: means a notice by the insurer to the named insured that the insurer is unwilling to renew a policy. See California Insurance Code 660
- Policy: means an automobile liability, automobile physical damage, or automobile collision policy, or any combination thereof, delivered or issued for delivery in this state, insuring a single individual or individuals residing in the same household, as named insured, and under which the insured vehicles therein designated are of the following types only:
California Insurance Code 660
- Resident: means residing in this State, "nonresident" means not residing in this State. See California Insurance Code 30
(2) The driver’s license or motor vehicle registration of the named insured or of any other operator who either resides in the same household or customarily operates an automobile insured under the policy has been under suspension or revocation during the policy period or, if the policy is a renewal, during its policy period or the 180 days immediately preceding its effective date.
(3) Discovery of fraud by the named insured in pursuing a claim under the policy provided the insurer does not rescind the policy.
(4) Discovery of material misrepresentation of any of the following information concerning the named insured or any resident of the same household who customarily operates an automobile insured under the policy:
(A) Safety record.
(B) Annual miles driven in prior years.
(C) Number of years of driving experience.
(D) Record of prior automobile insurance claims, if any.
(E) Any other factor found by the commissioner to have a substantial relationship to the risk of loss.
Any insured who negligently misrepresents information described in this paragraph may avoid cancellation by furnishing corrected information to the insurer within 20 days after receiving notice of cancellation and agreeing to pay any difference in premium for the policy period in which the information remained undisclosed.
(5) A substantial increase in the hazard insured against.
(b) Modification of automobile physical damage coverage by the inclusion of a deductible not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) shall not be deemed a cancellation of the coverage or of the policy.
(c) This section shall not apply to nonrenewal.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 786, Sec. 5. (AB 2303) Effective January 1, 2013.)