RELATING TO TRAVEL INSURANCE.

Document header changed from 'HB97_HD2' (House Draft 2) to 'HB97_SD1' (Senate Draft 1) with updated metadata fields including bill status, dates, and revision numbers.

Formatting of the bill text was standardized with consistent spacing, line breaks, and character encoding adjustments while preserving all original legislative language.

Page headers and footers were removed and replaced with structured metadata fields including bill number, sponsor information, and legislative session details.

Added comprehensive definitions for 'travel insurance', 'travel assistance services', 'cancellation fee waiver', 'limited lines travel insurance producer', 'travel retailer', 'travel administrator', and 'eligible group' to clarify what is regulated versus what is not.

Created new licensing and registration requirements for limited lines travel insurance producers and travel retailers, including fingerprinting, training, and maintaining registers of registered retailers.

Established disclosure requirements that insurers must provide consumers with material terms, claim filing processes, review/cancellation procedures, and insurer/producer contact information before or at purchase.

Added sales practice rules prohibiting negative opt-out options, requiring accurate marketing, and preventing misleading claims about free blanket travel insurance coverage.

Required fulfillment materials (coverage details and assistance information) to be provided to consumers within 15 days of purchase or 10 days of delivery, with refund rights before trip starts.

Established that selling policies that could never result in claim payments is an unfair trade practice and set penalties for violations under existing insurance law articles.

Set the effective date as October 1, 3000 (likely a placeholder or error in the markup), with a sunset provision for rights and duties that matured before the effective date.

Clarified that travel insurers must pay premium taxes only on actual travel insurance premiums, excluding amounts received for travel assistance services or cancellation fee waivers.

New definitions added for 'travel assistance services' (non-insurance services like security advisories and travel reservations) and 'cancellation fee waiver' (contractual agreements to waive cancellation fees), clarifying these are not insurance.

Expanded 'eligible group' definition to include 13 specific categories of organizations, such as financial institutions, volunteer groups, and entertainment production companies, that can purchase group travel insurance.

New licensing and registration requirements created for limited lines travel insurance producers and travel retailers, including mandatory fingerprinting, training programs, and maintenance of a register of registered travel retailers.

Consumer protection requirements added, including mandatory disclosure of material terms, pre-existing condition exclusions, and the ability to cancel policies for a full refund within 10-15 days of purchase.

New provisions establish that offering travel insurance using negative or opt-out options (requiring consumers to deselect coverage) is an unfair trade practice, and marketing blanket travel insurance as free is prohibited.

The bill's effective date is set to October 1, 3000, which appears to be a placeholder or error in the draft text that would need correction before enactment.

Added new definitions for 'limited lines travel insurance producer', 'travel retailer', 'travel administrator', 'travel assistance services', 'cancellation fee waiver', 'blanket travel insurance', and 'eligible group' with 12 specific categories of organizations.

Requires limited lines travel insurance producers to register travel retailers, maintain employee training programs, and designate responsible producers for compliance.

Mandates that travel retailers provide clear disclosures about insurance terms, claim processes, and insurer contact information to consumers before purchase.

Establishes a 15-day or 10-day cancellation period allowing consumers to receive full refunds if they haven't started a trip or filed a claim.

Prohibits negative or opt-out sales practices and deems marketing blanket travel insurance as free to be an unfair trade practice.

Requires travel insurers to pay state premium taxes on travel insurance premiums while excluding amounts for travel assistance services and cancellation fee waivers.

Expands eligible groups for group travel insurance to include various organizations such as financial institutions, entertainment production companies, volunteer groups, and rental car companies.

Changed the bill number from HB97 to HB97_CD1 and updated formatting to match committee draft standards.