Z-1009               _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1630

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State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Representatives Walk, Schmidt and Gallagher; by request of Department of Licensing

Read first time 1/20/88 and referred to Committee on Transportation.

AN ACT Relating to insurance for tow truck operators; and amending RCW 46.55.030.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 3, chapter 377, Laws of 1985 as amended by section 2, chapter 311, Laws of 1987 and RCW 46.55.030 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) Application for licensing as a registered tow truck operator shall be made on forms furnished by the department, shall be accompanied by an inspection certification from the Washington state patrol, shall be signed by the applicant or his agent, and shall include the following information:

          (a) The name and address of the person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation under whose name the business is to be conducted;

          (b) The names and addresses of all persons having an interest in the business, or if the owner is a corporation, the names and addresses of the officers of the corporation;

          (c) The names and addresses of all employees who serve as tow truck drivers;

          (d) Proof of minimum insurance required by subsection (3) of this section;

          (e) Any other information the department may require; and

          (f) A certificate of approval from the chief of police if the applicant's principal place of business is located in a city or town having a population over five thousand persons or, in all other instances, from a member of the Washington state patrol, certifying that:

          (i) The applicant has an established place of business at the address shown on the application;

          (ii) The place of business has an office area that is accessible to the public without entering the storage area; and

          (iii) The place of business has adequate and secure storage facilities, as defined in this chapter and the rules of the department, where vehicles and their contents can be properly stored and protected.

          (2) Before issuing a registration certificate to an applicant the department shall require the applicant to file with the department a surety bond in the amount of five thousand dollars running to the state and executed by a surety company authorized to do business in this state.  The bond shall be approved as to form by the attorney general and conditioned that the operator shall conduct his business in conformity with the provisions of this chapter pertaining to abandoned or unauthorized vehicles, and to compensate any person, company, or the state for failure to comply with this chapter or the rules adopted hereunder, or for fraud, negligence, or misrepresentation in the handling of these vehicles.  Any person injured by the tow truck operator's failure to fully perform duties imposed by this chapter and the rules adopted hereunder, or an ordinance or resolution adopted by a city, town, or county is entitled to recover actual damages, including reasonable attorney's fees against the surety and the tow truck operator.  Successive recoveries against the bond shall be permitted, but the aggregate liability of the surety to all persons shall not exceed the amount of the bond.  As a condition of authority to do business, the operator shall keep the bond in full force and effect.  Failure to maintain the penalty value of the bond or cancellation of the bond by the surety automatically cancels the operator's registration.

          (3) Before the department may issue a registration certificate to an applicant, the applicant shall provide proof of minimum insurance requirements of:

          (a) One hundred thousand dollars for liability for bodily injury or property damage per occurrence; and

          (b) Fifty thousand dollars of legal liability per occurrence, to protect against vehicle damage, including but not limited to fire and theft, from the time a vehicle comes into the custody of an operator until it is redeemed or sold.

Cancellation of the insurance required by (a) and (b) of this subsection automatically cancels the operator's registration.

          (4) The fee for each original registration and annual renewal is one hundred dollars per company, plus fifty dollars per truck.  The department shall forward the registration fee to the state treasurer for deposit in the motor vehicle fund.

          (5) Upon approval of the application, the department shall issue a registration certificate to the registered operator to be displayed prominently at the operator's place of business.