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Senate committee hears bill to modernize Oregon Insurance Guarantee Association, raise claim cap to $600,000
Summary
Witnesses told the Senate Committee on Labor and Business that House Bill 2130 would update the Oregon Insurance Guarantee Association law to clarify coverage for cyber claims and raise the property/liability cap from $300,000 to $600,000 for insolvencies on or after Jan. 1, 2025.
Chair Taylor opened the public hearing on House Bill 2130 on April 10, 2025. Whitney (staff) explained the measure, saying it was brought by the House Interim Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection for the Oregon Insurance Guarantee Association and that it carried no revenue impact and only a minimal fiscal impact.
Kathy Bronton Bazant, administrator of the Oregon Insurance Guarantee Association, described the association as a consumer-protection entity created in 1971 that pays covered property and casualty claims when a member insurer is ordered into liquidation. “We refer to ourselves as OIGA,” Bronton Bazant said, explaining OIGA’s funding sources: insurer assessments (the last assessment was in February 2002), recovery from liquidated assets, a special deposit fund tied to workers’ compensation insurers, and investment income.
Bronton Bazant said House Bill 2130 “modernize[s] the law that governs OIGA” and highlighted two changes: clarifying how cyber-insurance claims would be treated if a member insurer becomes insolvent and raising the statutory cap on property and liability claims from $300,000 to $600,000 for insolvencies on or after Jan. 1, 2025. On the cap she said the increase reflects higher repair and materials costs and was chosen to align with limits used by the Oregon Fair Plan. “The idea behind the guarantee fund is not to replace the full policy. It is to help protect the consumers of our state,” Bronton Bazant said.
Sean Miller, speaking for the Oregon Insurance Guarantee Association, added that the bill “is a consumer protection bill” and noted the measure passed the Oregon House unanimously or nearly so (58 aye, 2 excused on the House floor, per the sponsor’s remarks).
Chair Taylor closed the public hearing after committee members had no questions and said she planned to schedule a work session the following Tuesday.
Ending: The committee took no formal action at the hearing. Committee members and witnesses said the bill modernizes an older statutory framework, especially by clarifying coverage for cyber claims and increasing the per-loss cap; the committee's next step was a scheduled work session.
