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Insurance commissioner to push restitution, per-violation fines for insurers in refiled bill
Summary
Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer said she will press for reintroduction of Senate Bill 5331, a Restitution and Fine Parity bill that would let the Office of the Insurance Commissioner order restitution to harmed consumers and align property-casualty fining authority with other regulated entities.
Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer said the Office of the Insurance Commissioner will again pursue Senate Bill 5331, legislation the agency says would allow it to order restitution to consumers and apply per-violation fining authority to property-casualty insurers.
Kuderer told an agency preview event that the measure, which cleared the Senate last year, stalled in the House Policy Committee over industry-proposed aggregate caps. She said the office intends to advocate for the bill this session and will resist aggregate caps, which she described as "anti-consumer" because they can shield repeat or large-scale violators from full financial accountability.
The commissioner said 38 states have some level of per-violation authority over property-casualty insurers and called Washington an outlier on that point. She cited an example in which a counterpart in another state adopted the concept after reviewing the draft language.
Kuderer said the bill is currently in Senate rules and that the OIC will continue stakeholder discussions and share draft language with interested parties. No formal votes or legislative text were adopted during the briefing; the agency encouraged stakeholder input as it prepares to advance the measure.
Next steps: The OIC staff said it will continue outreach to legislators and stakeholders and publish draft language on the agency website; the bill's future will depend on action in the Legislature.
