CHAPTER 341
H.P. 969 - L.D. 1349
An Act to Reduce Insurance Premiums by Discouraging Insurance Fraud
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 24-A MRSA §2183, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 345, is amended to read:
1. Definition. For the purpose of this section, "fraudulent insurance act" means an act committed by any person who, knowingly and with intent to defraud, presents, causes to be presented or prepares with knowledge or belief that it will be presented to or by an insurer, purported insurer, broker or any agent of an insurer, any written statement as part of or in support of an application for the issuance of or the rating of an insurance policy for commercial insurance or a claim for payment or other benefit pursuant to an insurance policy for commercial or personal insurance which he the person knows to contain materially false information concerning any material fact or conceals, for the purpose of misleading, information concerning any material fact.
Sec. 2. 24-A MRSA §2183, sub-§3 is enacted to read:
3. Recovery costs. In a civil action in which it is proven that a person committed a fraudulent insurance act, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the insurer. In a civil action in which the insurer alleges that a party committed a fraudulent insurance act that is not established at trial, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the party if the allegation is not supported by any reasonable basis of law or fact.
Effective September 19, 1997, unless otherwise indicated.
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