WASHINGTON--A veteran Mississippi senator has reintroduced ameasure aimed at preventing resale of flood-damaged automobilesthat insurers say fails to meet its objective.

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who has introduced other legislationthat has antagonized the industry, in his new bill would holdinsurers responsible for creating a national clearinghouse forinformation on all cars they have declared total losses.

The "Consumer Access to Total Loss Vehicle Data Act" would makedata available to consumers about vehicles carriers have declaredto be totaled.

It was reintroduced Monday by Sen. Lott. Companion legislationwas introduced Tuesday by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.

The legislation would direct the National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration to compel all insurers to commercially discloseinformation pertaining to total loss vehicles through varioussources including online auto services like CAR-FAX.

The bill would also require insurance companies to reveal thereason for the total loss (flood, collision, stolen, etc.), thedate of total loss, the odometer reading on that date, and whetheror not the airbag deployed.

Sen. Lott said that consumers should not have to rely on thevarious states' titling processes because each state is differentand the branding information is often not passed from one state tothe next. When an insurance company declares a car totaled, theinsurer assumes the title.

"The insurance industry should make this information availableto protect the consumers, and we will be working to enact thatprotection in the 110th Congress," Sen. Lott said. "Buyers areentitled to truthful titles and complete information about avehicle's history."

Sen. Lott has been a vocal critic of the industry since hisMississippi home was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina and hisclaim was rejected by his insurer, State Farm. The senator recentlysettled an action he brought against the insurers.

Sen. Lott has also agreed to co-sponsor legislation that wouldsignificantly roll back the insurance industry's exemption fromfederal antitrust laws.

He first introduced the total loss bill last December afterMississippi auto dealers complained that some of the estimated500,000 damaged vehicles from Katrina were being resold.

The industry is divided on the bill, although the NationalAutomobile Dealers Association has expressed support for thelegislation because its members wouldn't have to assume liabilityfor the paperwork needed to establish a nationwide clearinghouse ordisclosure system.

Dennis Kelly, a spokesman for the American InsuranceAssociation, said the AIA had "looked at the bill" and decided "towork to improve it as it works through the congressionalprocess."

He noted, "We don't want cars that should not be on the road toever be back on the road."

But the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America andthe National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies both saidthey don't think the bill will solve the problem.

"We believe that disclosure alone will not solve the root causeof the problem, which is that loopholes in some states make titlelaundering possible," said Cliston Brown, a federal affairsspokesman for the PCI.

Specifically, Mr. Brown said, PCI supports provisions that wouldresult in the carrying forward of state title brands when vehiclesare registered in subsequent states. "This solution would brandsalvage vehicles for the life of the vehicle," Mr. Brown said.

Marliss Browder said NAMIC "supports permanent title branding,so that once an automobile is branded a salvage vehicle in onestate, "that title must carry forward to all other states wheresomeone might try to register it."