BILL ANALYSIS
AB 470
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE
Joe Coto, Chair
AB 470 (Niello) - As Introduced: February 24, 2009
SUBJECT : Insurance information: accident reports
SUMMARY : Authorizes an insurer to provide accident reports to
the attorney for the insured. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows an insurance institution, agent, or insurance-support
organization, as defined, to disclose to an attorney for an
insured, an accident report, supplemental report,
investigative report, or the information contained therein,
from a governmental body.
2)Allows an insurance institution, agent, or insurance-support
organization, as defined, to disclose to an attorney for an
insured a copy of an accident report or other report which the
insured is entitled to receive pursuant to specified
provisions of the Government and Vehicle Codes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Insurance Information And Privacy Protections
Act (ACT), a comprehensive regulatory framework designed to
protect the privacy of insurance consumers.
2)Specifies that an insurance entity shall not disclose any
personal information about an individual that it has collected
in the course of any insurance transaction, unless there is a
specific exception to this rule.
3)Allows an insurance entity to disclose the information at
issue in this bill to an insured, but not to the insured's
attorney.
FISCAL EFFECT : Undetermined, but unlikely to have any cost
increases to any governmental entity.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose . According to the author and the sponsor, the Civil
Justice Association of California (CJAC), the bill will
AB 470
Page 2
expedite settlement of insurance claims by allowing the
insurer to more quickly communicate with the claimant's
attorney when that attorney needs to review information in the
possession of the insurer.
2)Prior legislation . In 2006, the Senate Banking, Finance and
Insurance Committee introduced a Committee bill, SB 1847
(Statutes 2006, Chapter 405) that contained a noncontroversial
provision that allowed the insurance entity to provide this
information to the insured. SB 1847 passed unanimously.
However, the law is very clear that information subject to the
Act can only be provided to a person or entity that is
specifically authorized by the Act to receive the information.
This bill takes the next logical step so that the insurer can
provide the accident report information to the attorney for
the insured in the event that attorney does not already have
all of the information, thereby speeding up the settlement
process.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Civil Justice Association of California
Opposition
None received.
Analysis Prepared by : Mark Rakich / INS. / (916) 319-2086