Senate Bill 6252 — Consumer Protections for Automobile Insurance Coverage (Washington, 2024 Regular Session)

Summary

Senate Bill 6252 of the State of Washington, 68th Legislature, 2024 Regular Session, by Senators Stanford, Hasegawa, Kuderer, Nobles, and Valdez. It was read first time 01/17/24 and referred to the Committee on Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Trade. The act relates to enhancing consumer protections for automobile insurance coverage and adds new sections to chapter 48.18 RCW. Section 1 states that every basic contract of automobile insurance issued or renewed effective on or after January 1, 2025 shall include a provision for the right to an appraisal to resolve disputes between the insurer and the insured regarding the actual cash value and amount of loss on the damaged automobile.

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Full text

     S-4025.1

                               SENATE BILL 6252


     State of Washington       68th Legislature         2024 Regular Session

     By Senators Stanford, Hasegawa, Kuderer, Nobles, and Valdez

     Read first time 01/17/24.       Referred   to   Committee   on   Business,
     Financial Services, Gaming & Trade.




 1       AN ACT Relating to enhancing consumer protections for automobile
 2   insurance coverage; and adding new sections to chapter 48.18 RCW.


 3   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:


 4       NEW SECTION.   Sec. 1.   A new section is added to chapter 48.18
 5   RCW to read as follows:
 6       Every basic contract of automobile insurance issued or renewed
 7   effective on or after January 1, 2025, shall include a provision for
 8   the right to an appraisal to resolve disputes between the insurer and
 9   the insured regarding the actual cash value and amount of loss on the
10   damaged automobile. The appraisal clause shall read as follows unless
11   the insurer certifies that the appraisal clause is more favorable to
12   the insured:
13       "If [the insurance company] and [the policyholder] are unable to
14   agree as to the amount of loss, either party may make a written
15   demand for an appraisal, and within 10 days each party shall select a
16   competent and disinterested appraiser and notify the other party of
17   its selection.
18       The   selected   appraisers   shall  appoint   a   competent   and
19   disinterested umpire. If the appraisers do not appoint a competent
20   and disinterested umpire within 15 days, either party may request
21   that a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction select an umpire.
                                     p. 1                               SB 6252
 1       The appraisers shall then each appraise the loss, make separate
 2   findings regarding the amount of loss for each element of loss, and
 3   if the appraisers are unable to agree on the losses, they shall
 4   submit their differences to the umpire.
 5       The amount of loss must be determined either by agreement of the
 6   appraisers or by agreement of one appraiser and the umpire.
 7       Each party is responsible for their appraisal expenses, and each
 8   party is equally responsible for the cost of the umpire.
 9       If the amount of loss determined through the appraisal process is
10   greater than the amount of loss [the insurance company] adjusted
11   before the appraisal process was invoked, [the insurance company]
12   will reimburse [the policyholder] for the costs incurred for the
13   appraisal process.
14       The   appraisal  process   costs   include  reasonable  appraiser
15   professional charges, reasonable attorneys' fees, and other necessary
16   actual costs."


17       NEW SECTION.   Sec. 2.   A new section is added to chapter 48.18
18   RCW to read as follows:
19       (1) Every basic contract of automobile insurance shall contain
20   the following language: "When a vehicle is deemed repairable by [the
21   insurance company], the amount paid under the claim must allow the
22   vehicle to be restored to its condition prior to the loss."
23   Restoration of the vehicle to its condition prior to the loss
24   includes repair processes.
25       (2) Payment of a claim under a basic contract of automobile
26   insurance for automobile physical damage must be based upon the
27   reasonable and necessary costs at the claimant's chosen repair
28   facility. The insurance company has the burden to prove the costs at
29   the   claimant's   chosen   repair  facility    are  unreasonable  or
30   unnecessary. Repair processes are deemed reasonable and necessary.
31       (3) Nothing in this section mandates that an insurance company
32   pay for parts supplied by the original equipment manufacturer, except
33   to the extent that the use of alternate parts would fail to restore
34   the vehicle to its condition prior to the loss.
35       (4) For the purposes of this section:
36       (a) "Basic contract of automobile insurance" means any automobile
37   insurance policy that includes first-party coverage for physical
38   damage of an automobile.


                                     p. 2                          SB 6252
1       (b) "Repair processes" means the explicit processes, tolerances,
2   and other technical requirements or instructions for the repair of a
3   motor vehicle, including scans, calibrations, or diagnostic tests of
4   vehicle electronic systems that the motor vehicle manufacturer makes
5   generally available to dealerships, independent repair shops, and
6   insurers.

                                --- END ---




                                    p. 3                         SB 6252


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