BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 596|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 596
Author: Price (D)
Amended: 7/7/11
Vote: 21
SENATE INSURANCE COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/27/11
AYES: Calderon, Gaines, Anderson, Corbett, Lieu,
Lowenthal, Price, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Correa
SENATE FLOOR : 38-0, 5/9/11
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon,
Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Dutton,
Emmerson, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Harman, Hernandez, Huff,
Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete
McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Runner, Steinberg,
Strickland, Vargas, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Simitian
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 7/14/11 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Insurance: disclosure forms
SOURCE : Association of California Insurance Companies
DIGEST : This bill consolidates the notice of the
California Earthquake Authority coverage with the notice of
available discounts for earthquake coverage into a single
mailing, and revises the contents of the insurance claim
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SB 596
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related written notice.
Assembly Amendments delete the consolidation of the notice
of the Uniform Residential Property Insurance Disclosure
and the California Residential Property Insurance Bill of
Rights, repeal the requirement that insurers, upon receipt
of a claim, provide an insured person with reproductions of
certain sections of insurance law and instead require an
insurer provide this information upon request of the
insured, and reduces from 12-point type to 10-point type
the notice every insurer is required to send, upon
receiving notice of a claim, to the insured.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Requires that no residential property insurance policy
be issued or delivered in California without an offer of
earthquake insurance coverage availability which is
required to include specified provisions.
Under current law, the statute currently authorizes this
notice to be expanded to include "additional provisions
not in conflict or in derogation of" the mandatory
offer.
2. Requires that at the time of offering to issue or renew
an earthquake insurance policy, the insurer is to
disclose in writing to the applicant all discounts or
surcharges that are available to the insured. This
notice is required to be in a "freestanding document".
3. Prohibits issuance of any policy of residential property
insurance unless the named insured is provided a copy of
the California Residential Property Insurance
Disclosure.
4. Effective July 1, 2011, requires that every California
Residential Property Insurance Disclosure be accompanied
by a "Residential Property Insurance Bill of Rights"
document.
This bill:
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1. Permits insurers selling homeowner's insurance to
disclose to applicants, in the same document that offers
earthquake coverage, all discounts or surcharges for
homeowner's insurance and related earthquake insurance.
2. Reduces from 12-point type to 10-point type the size of
the reproduction of the insurance law, provided by
insurers to claimants, that identifies the unfair
practices in the business of insurance.
3. Repeals the requirement that insurers, upon receipt of a
claim, provide the insured person with a reproduction of
the insurance law that identifies the following
prohibited acts in the business of insurance, and
instead requires insurers provide a legible reproduction
of this information to an insured person upon their
request.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/4/11)
Association of California Insurance Companies (source)
Personal Insurance Federation of California
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 7/14/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall,
Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines, Garrick, Gorell, Mitchell
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JJA:mw 8/9/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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