Senate committee amends bill to let insurance commissioner order restitution after hearing; passes 5-0

The Senate Industry and Business Committee on a unanimous vote amended Gross House Bill 1088 to let the state insurance commissioner require restitution, after an administrative hearing, for people directly harmed by violations of Title 26.1.

The change breaks the current language into two subsections: subsection 1 preserves the administrative monetary penalty (an administrative fine of up to $10,000 per violation), and subsection 2 — beginning on line 10 of the amendment presented to the committee — authorizes restitution in the amount of a person’s direct financial loss after a hearing. The committee added a sentence to subsection 2 stating that “nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize the commissioner to determine or adjudicate whether an obligation is owed under a policy or contract of insurance or require a person to pay a claim or an amount claimed owed…