SCS/SB 252 - This act specifies that an insurance company shall be deemed to reside in the county in which it maintains its registered office. A foreign insurance company without a registered office in any county in Missouri shall be deemed to reside in, and be a resident of, Cole County. Venue for tort and contract claims in which there is a count against an insurer shall be in the county where the insurer resides, or in the county in which the insured's principal place of residence was located at the time the insurance was issued. Venue shall be determined by these provisions even if the insured's rights or claims under the policy have been assigned or transferred to another party. However, venue shall not be affected by intervention by an insurance company in an action where recovery has been contractually limited to the proceeds of an insurance policy. These provisions shall not apply to actions relating to uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
Venue for vexatious refusal to pay actions to collect amounts due under uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage shall be determined under the provisions of the act specific to uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Venue for other vexatious refusal to pay actions shall be determined in accordance with the provisions relating to tort and contract claims.
The act specifies how venue shall be determined in actions against an insurer relating to uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. If the accident occurred in Missouri, venue shall be in the county in which the accident occurred. If the accident occurred outside of Missouri, venue shall be in the county where the insurer resides, or the Missouri county of the insured's principal place of residence at the time of the accident.
These provisions are similar to provisions in the truly agreed to and finally passed SS#2/SB 7 (2019), provisions in SCS/HB 186 (2019), provisions in HB 118 (2019), and provisions in HB 231 (2019).
ERIC VANDER WEERD