Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Section 32 of chapter 148 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the first two paragraphs, as amended by chapter 138 of the acts of 1985, and inserting in place thereof the following two paragraphs:-

The marshal or police or fire department or other appropriate law enforcement agency may request an insurance company to share information relative to an investigation concerning a loss due to fire of suspicious or incendiary origin, and to furnish other relevant materials, such as insurance policies, policy premium records, and history of previous claims. The marshal or any of the aforementioned departments or agencies shall, upon request, share the information so acquired with the marshal, department, or agency, as appropriate, requesting the same.

If an insurance company has reason to suspect that a fire loss to its insured's real or personal property was caused by incendiary means, the company shall furnish the marshal or any of the aforementioned departments or agencies with all relevant material acquired during its investigation of the fire loss, cooperate with the marshal or any of the aforementioned departments or agencies, and take such action as the marshal or any of the aforementioned departments or agencies may reasonably request. Any other person may, by obtaining a court order, inspect records of such insurance company pertaining to the policy and the loss. Such insurance company may request access to information gathered by the marshal or any of the aforementioned departments or agencies in an investigation into such fire loss of suspected incendiary origin.