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Committee weighs bill to let owners keep 'totaled' vehicles without buying them back
Summary
Representative Ruby explained House Bill 1243 would require insurers to allow vehicle owners to retain ownership of vehicles declared a total loss without the insurer withholding or requiring a separate buy‑back payment; insurers warned the change would raise premiums and create logistical and environmental risks.
Chairman Ruby (Representative Ruby), sponsor of House Bill 1243, told the committee he brought the measure after a constituent question: when an insurer declares a vehicle a total loss and pays the insured, why must the owner still buy the vehicle back if they want to retain it?
"If they gave you that 50,000 and then you fixed it, brought it up to whole now, well, then you should be able to keep the car," Chairman Ruby said, describing the idea behind the bill. He said sometimes owners want to keep components (engines, axles or boxes on farm trucks) and should not have to repurchase a vehicle they already owned prior to the total‑loss payment.
Insurance industry witnesses strongly opposed the bill. Chris Owen, vice president of claims at NODAC…
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