Lucky Papageorge, executive director of AASP Massachusetts, asked the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure to advance House Bill 333, which would move the auto-damage appraiser licensing board from the Division of Insurance to the Division of Occupational Licensure and change how complaints are handled.

Papageorge said that since January 26, 2016, 373 complaints have been filed against licensed auto-damage appraisers but that most complaints have been dismissed or received no actionable outcome: 210 were dismissed without full consideration and 117 had no documentable action; 46 complaints reached executive session and none produced disciplinary action, he said. Papageorge and other collision-repair advocates argued the current board configuration — he said the board historically included insurance-affiliated members — creates conflicts and procedural barriers that favor insurers’ representatives.

Witnesses framed the proposal as a consumer-protection measure intended to ensure appraisers who represent insurers are held to the same professional-licensing standards as shop-side or consumer-side appraisers. Papageorge said the appraiser license is a professional credential and belongs under a licensing division rather than within the Division of Insurance. The committee heard testimony and did not vote on HB 333 during the session.