Committee advances broad insurance package to boost affordability and tighten claims rules

Representative Matt Reeves presented House Bill 13 44 as a multi-part package he described as the product of a Blue Ribbon Study Committee and cross-aisle work to make insurance more affordable and claims processing more reliable. "We have an increase in nearly 40 additional fines...to hold companies accountable when there are violations of the law and policies that'll make our claims run more smoothly and quickly," Reeves said.

The bill includes measures to strengthen uninsured-motorist enforcement, incorporate a previously heard "excluded driver" provision (with credit to Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones), expand the fortified-homes program for storm-hardening, and improve claims-processing timelines after catastrophic events. Committee members questioned how the excluded-driver rule would work in practice. In response to Representative Gamble's question, Reeves said permissive-driver status remains unchanged but that a household member who has been removed from a policy by paperwork and then drives would be treated as an uninsured motorist and could be ticketed.

Bryce Rawson, speaking for the insurance commissioner, described the department's fraud-investigation resources and said the department would follow up about the public availability of ZIP-code underwriting or pricing data. After discussion, the committee moved and passed HB 1344 by voice vote.