Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would allowmembers of the U.S. military to retain their auto-insurancepolicies when they are transferred to new bases.

Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif. and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., introducedthe bill, the Servicemembers Insurance Relief Act (H.R. 4669)Monday in the House.

Royce said he introduced it to make the current, state-basedinsurance regulatory system more accommodating to servicemembersthat currently have to change auto-insurance policies every timethey relocate across state lines.

"This bipartisan legislation makes a simple but meaningfulchange to current law that will lessen the burden on servicemembersand their families during times of transition," Royce said.

The bill was prompted by a 2013 report by the Federal InsuranceOffice that said the office would work with stakeholders to developpersonal auto-insurance policies for U.S. military personnel thatwould be enforceable across state lines.

It would enable all members of the U.S. military, including theNational Guard and Reserves, to keep their current auto-insurancepolicy when they receive Permanent Change of Station or TemporaryDuty Assignment orders.

The bill immediately picked up support from USAA.

Robert Hartwig, president and CEO of the Insurance InformationInstitute, said he expects state insurance regulators as well asinsurers would support it. "Insurers already have a lot ofexperience in this area because truck insurance reflects the factthat the insured vehicles travel interstate," Hartwig said.

The same applies for cars where the vehicle that is insured isoperated outside the state where the insurance is issued, he added."I think no one wants roadblocks to exist in the path ofservicemembers who are frequently transferred from one state toanother," he said.

The bill would require insurers who are notified of a militarycustomer's orders to move to inform the customer that they cancontinue with the same policy for their current state of residenceor seek a new one. Insurers would be allowed to make ratingadjustments to the existing policy to address changed risk factorsbased on the new location, such as a greater risk of a car beingstolen or damaged by hail.

"The men and women in our nation's military regularly sacrificein service of our country," added Brian Conklin, vice president offederal government relations for USAA. "The hassle and confusion ofchanging auto insurance every time they move to a new state is oneburden they don't need. This bill would let servicemembers choose asingle policy that could follow them throughout their militarycareer. By giving servicemembers this choice, this bill can givethem some peace of mind."