BILL NUMBER: AB 1179	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Jones

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to add Section 758.3 to the Insurance Code, relating to
motor vehicle insurance.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1179, as introduced, Jones. Motor vehicle insurance: damage
assessments.
   Existing law generally regulates the conduct of motor vehicle
insurers relative to insureds or claimants. Under existing law, motor
vehicle insurers are prohibited from requiring that insureds or
claimants use a specific automotive repair shop.
   This bill would, in addition, require insurers to disclose in
writing to claimants that any damage assessment, as defined, made by
the insurer is not a written estimate of repair costs, as defined.
This bill would also require insurers to disclose that the actual
cost of repair may be higher than the damage assessment, as
specified.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 758.3 is added to the Insurance Code, to read:
   758.3.  (a) For purposes of this section only, a "damage
assessment" is any communication presented to a claimant that is
intended to convey the cost of vehicle repair and that has been
prepared by an insurer or by an individual or entity associated with
the insurer and not registered as an automotive repair dealer
pursuant to Section 9884.6 of the Business and Professions Code.
   (b) For purposes of this section only, a "written estimate" is a
document prepared by an automotive repair dealer registered in
accordance with the requirements of Sections 9884.6 and 9884.9 of the
Business and Professions Code and Section 3353 of Title 16 of the
California Code of Regulations.
   (c) Any insurer who provides a claimant with a damage assessment
shall do so in writing, and the assessment shall contain the
following disclosure on the first page of the document in a minimum
of 16-point type:
   "THIS DAMAGE ASSESSMENT IS NOT A WRITTEN ESTIMATE OF REPAIR COSTS.
A WRITTEN ESTIMATE OF REPAIR COSTS CAN ONLY BE PREPARED BY AN
AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR DEALER REGISTERED WITH THE CALIFORNIA BUREAU OF
AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR. THE ACTUAL COSTS OF REPAIR MAY BE HIGHER THAN THE
COSTS CONTAINED IN THIS DAMAGE ASSESSMENT."