Committee narrows insurance bill, exempting commercial property from assignment-of-benefits ban
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Summary
Senate Bill 55, which would prohibit assignment of benefits under property and casualty insurance and deem it an unfair or deceptive practice, was amended to exempt commercial property policies; the amendment passed and the bill was moved out of committee as amended.
The Senate committee considered Senate Bill 55, aimed at prohibiting assignment of benefits under property and casualty insurance and labeling such assignments "an unfair or deceptive trade act or practice." Eileen, committee staff, summarized the bill before members took up an amendment.
Senator Warren said she had concerns about private contractual rights and noted that commercial property owners and post-incident businesses are generally sophisticated enough to manage assignments themselves. She proposed and moved an amendment to remove commercial property policies from the bill’s coverage so the prohibition would apply only to residential policyholders. "So with striking the commercial property, I'm more comfortable with the bill," Warren said.
The committee discussed the page references for the strikes and then adopted Warren’s amendment by voice vote; Senator Rose seconded. Senator Gossage then moved to pass SB 55 favorably as amended; the committee approved the bill by voice vote and sent it out of committee.
The amendment preserves protections for residential policyholders while allowing commercial actors to continue using assignment agreements if they choose. The committee record does not show a roll-call tally; outcomes were recorded as voice votes.
