Bill Description: House Bill 769 would impose new regulations on automobile insurers and attempt to micromanage dispute resolutions.
Rating: -2
Does it give government any new, additional, or expanded power to prohibit, restrict, or regulate activities in the free market? Conversely, does it eliminate or reduce government intervention in the market?
House Bill 769 would create Section 49-1211, Idaho Code, to impose new regulations on automobile insurers. Specifically, the bill would require automobile insurers to “ensure that each policy issued, executed, renewed, or delivered to a consumer contains a provision allowing for an appraisal by a competent and disinterested appraiser if the policyholder and insurer disagree on the actual cash value or amount of a loss, including the repairable amount and total loss amount, of an automobile reported on a claim; or the offer of settlement to a third-party liability claim.”
The bill goes on to dictate the exact timing and terms of how a “competent and disinterested appraiser” should be selected. It goes on to require that any additional “dispute resolution” be handled by a “competent and disinterested umpire.”
Such matters and processes should be set by contract, not dictated by statute.
(-1)
Does it directly or indirectly create or increase penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes? Conversely, does it eliminate or decrease penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes?
The bill says, “An insurer’s failure to comply with the procedures of this section shall be a violation of chapter 13, title 41, Idaho Code.” This chapter is “Trade Practices and Frauds” and Section 41-1327 says, “Any person who violates any provision of this chapter as to which a penalty is not expressly provided … shall be subject to penalties as prescribed by or referred to in section 41-117, Idaho Code (general penalty).”
This section sets the general penalty at “not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for any individual or natural person and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for any other person, imposed by the director, and upon conviction by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.”
It further says that “each instance of violation may be considered a separate offense.”
(-1)
