Automobile repair-consumer choice.

WORKING DRAFT
2009
STATE OF
WYOMING
09LSO-0054

HOUSE BILL
NO.
HB0065

Automobile repair-consumer choice.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Illoway and Senator(s) Johnson

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to
insurance
and motor vehicle repairs
; prohibiting the designation of specific automobile repair locations by insurers as specified;
prohibiting
a repair business
from
charg
ing
more
for insured repairs
than uninsured repair
s
; specifying that the lowest prevailing market rate may not be less than the cost to provide the repair;
providing definitions;

and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.
W.S. 26
‑
13
‑
125 is created to read:

26
‑
13
‑
125.

Designation of specific automobile body repair businesses prohibited.

(a)

No insurer of a motor vehicle shall:

(i)

R
equire that a claimant under
a
policy use a particular automobile body repair business or location f
or an estimate or a repair; or

(ii)

E
ngage in any act or practice that intimidates, coerces, or threatens a claimant or that provides an incentive or inducement for a claimant to use a particular automobile bod
y repair business or location.

(b)

An insurer
that issues or renews a policy of insurance in this state covering, in whole or in part, a motor vehicle may have access to the motor vehicle for purposes of pre
paring a competitive estimate.

(
c
)

Upon request, an insurer
shall provide, without prejudice or bias, the claimant with a list that includes all automobile body repair businesses or locations that are reasonably close or convenient to the claimant and willing to provide servi
ces and that meet the insurer
's criteria regarding whether the automobile body r
epair business or location:

(i)

P
ossesses the equipment n
ecessary to undertake repairs;

(ii)

U
ndertakes training of management and technical personnel with respect to repair infor
mation and the claims process;

(iii)

A
grees to perform quality repairs at the prevailing competitive
labor rate
and that meet reasona
ble industry repair standards;

(iv)

A
grees to warrant the quality of work, including refinishing, in writing to the claimant, for a period of not less than
one (
1
)
year from the date of repair;

(
v)

A
grees to inspection of its repairs and services by the insur
er
and agrees that the insur
er
may terminate the direct repair program with the automobile body repair business or location if the repairs and services are below the standards of quality required
by the insur
er
; and

(vi)

I
f requested, agrees to execute an agreement with the insur
er
that may contain additional criteria that are not designed to unfairly limit the number of automobile body repair businesses or locations with whom the insur
er
maintains direct repair programs. The additional criteria may include criteria determined to be necessary by the insur
er
and designed to ensure that the automobile body repair business or location has the necessary estimating systems and programs and equipment to communicate electronically with the insur
er
and that the automobile body repair business or location has taken steps to ensure the privacy of the insur
er
and the claimant
.

(d
)

An insur
er
may limit the number of automobile body repair businesses or locations participating in the insur
er's
direct repair program to those automobile body repair businesses or locations that comply with the provisions of subsection (
c
)
of this section
. An insure
r
is not required to establish a direct repair program in a particular mar
ket area in which the insurer
's number of policyholders does not support establishing a direct repair program with any automobile bod
y repair business or location.

(e
)

If the claimant requests the list provided for in subsection (
c
)
of this section
, the insur
er
shall inform the claimant that the claimant may use an automobile body repair business or location at the so
le discretion of the claimant.

(
f
)

For the purposes of this section, an incentive o
r inducement does not include:

(i)

P
roviding a claimant with the list provided for in subsection (
c
)
of this section
; or

(ii)

R
eferring to a warranty issued by an automobile bod
y repair business or location.

(
g
)

The claimant may use an automobile body repair business or location at the claimant's sole discretion, and the insur
er
shall pay for the reasonable and necessary cost of the automobile body repair services for covered damages, less any deductible under the terms of the policy.
The deductible shall not be used to pay for any cost that is not covered under the terms of the policy.
This
sub
section does not require an insurer to pay more for automobile body repair services than the lowest prevailing market
rate
.
All necessary covered parts shall be paid for at list price.

In the event the
insur
er
and the
automobile bod
y repair business or location
are unable
to
agree on the
charge
to be paid for
a repair,
the matter may by agreement of the parties be submitted to arbitration. If so submitted, the following shall apply:

(i)

Arbitration shall proceed only if all parties agree in advance and submit the dispute to arbitration, and the decision of the arbitrators shall be final and binding if so agreed upon by the parties in advance of the arbitrator's proceedings;

(ii)

The dispute shall be submitted to a panel of three (3) arbitrators, one (1) of which shall be selected by the
insur
er
within thirty (30) days after the parties have agreed to arbitrate, one (1) of which shall be selected by the
automobile bod
y repair business or location
within thirty (30) days after the parties have agreed to arbitrate, and one (1) of which shall be selected
by agreement of those two
(2)
arbitrators
within ten (10) days after
both
parties have
selected
arbitrators
pursuant to this paragraph
;

(iii
)

The arbitration shall proceed in accordance with
law
within thirty (30) days after the selection of the arbitration panel has been completed;

(
i
v)

The cost of the arbitration shall be borne equally by the parties. The
decision
of a majority of the arbitrators shall be final and binding on the parties if so agreed upon in advance by the parties. The arbitrators shall not be permitted to award punitive damages and are bound to apply the terms and provisions of the
insurance policy
not in conflict with this
section
.

(
h
)

If the claimant
uses an automobile body repair business or location that is not on a list provided for in subsection (
c
)
of this section
, the insur
er
may not be held liable for any repair work performed by the automobile body repair business or lo
cation chosen by the claimant.

(
j
)

It is unlawful for an automobile body repair business or location to charge or agree to charge a claimant more than an uninsured customer for any a
utomobile body repair service.

(
k
)

An insur
er
that contracts with
an independent adjuster may
be held liable for the independent adjuster's failure to comply w
ith the terms of this section.

(m
)

As used
in
this section:

(i)

"A
utomobile body repair business or location" does not include a business or location that exclusively provides automobile glass replacement, glass repai
r services or glass products;

(ii)

"C
laimant" means the person seeking repair of a motor vehicle whether that person is the insured person or a third party making a claim against the insurer.

(iii)

"L
owest prevailing market
rate
" means the lowest market
rate
in a local area. The lowest prevailing market
rate
may not be less than
the actual
cost
to the business to provide the repair.

Section 2.
This act is effective July 1, 2009.

(END)

1
HB0065