CODE OF VIRGINIA

ASSESSMENTS TO FUND PROGRAM TO REDUCE LOSSES FROM MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS (§
38.2-414)

A. To provide funds to establish and operate a statewide program to receive and
reward information leading to the arrest of persons who commit motor vehicle
theft-related crimes in Virginia, each insurer licensed to write insurance
coverage as defined in § 38.2-124 shall, prior to March 1 of each year, pay an
assessment equal to one-quarter of one percent of the total direct gross premium
income for automobile physical damage insurance other than collision written in
the Commonwealth during the preceding calendar year.

B. Assessments received pursuant to subsection A of this section, and all other
moneys received by the Commission for the same purpose, shall be segregated and
placed in a fund to be known as the Help Eliminate Automobile Theft Fund,
hereinafter referred to as the HEAT Fund.

C. Any insurer that fails to pay the assessment on or before the date prescribed
in subsection A shall be subject to a penalty imposed by the Commission.  The
penalty shall be ten percent of the assessment and interest shall be charged at
a rate pursuant to § 58.1-1812 for the period between the date due and the date
of full payment.  If a payment is made in an amount later found to be in error,
the Commission shall, (i) if an additional amount is due, notify the insurer of
the additional amount, which the insurer shall pay within fourteen days of the
date of the notice or, (ii) if an overpayment is made, order a refund of the
amount of the overpayment, which shall be paid out of the HEAT Fund.  The
Commission shall be reimbursed from the Fund for all expenses necessary for the
administration of this section.

D. The HEAT Fund shall be controlled and administered by the Superintendent of
the Department of State Police.  The Superintendent shall appoint an advisory
committee of seven members to assist in developing and annually reviewing the
plan of operation for the HEAT Fund program.

E. Money in the HEAT Fund shall be expended as follows:

   1.  To pay the costs of establishing and operating a program to receive and
   reward information leading to the arrest of persons who commit motor vehicle
   theft-related crimes in Virginia.

   2.  Any uncommitted funds remaining in the HEAT Fund on the last day of
   February of each year may be transferred to the Department of State Police,
   Department of Motor Vehicles, or Department of Criminal Justice Services for
   the following purposes: (i) providing financial support to state or local
   law-enforcement agencies for motor vehicle theft enforcement efforts, (ii)
   providing financial support to local prosecutors or judicial agencies for
   programs designed to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle theft, and (iii)
   conducting educational programs to inform vehicle owners of methods of
   preventing motor vehicle theft.

HISTORY: 1991, c. 318; 1993, c. 196.