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House committee adopts carve‑out amendment and sends insurance bill to House floor
Summary
The House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection adopted a dash‑1 amendment to House Bill 4,098 that narrows the bill’s reach on certain insurance matters and voted to send the bill to the House floor with a due‑pass recommendation after debate about whether the amendment fully shields third‑party claims.
The House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection on Feb. 12 adopted an amendment to House Bill 4,098 and forwarded the bill to the House floor with a due‑pass recommendation after members debated the scope of protections for insurers.
House Bill 4,098 would designate a set of insurance practices as unlawful trade practices under Oregon’s unlawful trade practices act, including use of credit history or insurance scores in personal insurance underwriting, use of prior claims in renewal decisions, and failures to provide notice for cancellation or nonrenewal of homeowners insurance policies, according to Mr. Henry, who summarized the bill for the committee. The bill includes exemptions for attorneys and for traditional insurance‑agent activities.
The committee considered two proposed amendments. Vice Chair Osborne moved adoption of the dash‑2 amendment, which would remove many of the insurance‑related violations listed in the bill, but the motion failed on a roll‑call vote. Committee members who opposed dash‑2 said it would “scale back” the bill and remove provisions that address the insurance conduct the bill seeks to remedy.
Vice Chair Taichi later moved adoption of the dash‑1 amendment. The dash‑1 amendment, as explained by Mr. Henry, alters the definition of “real estate goods or services” in the UTPA to exclude the adjustment of third‑party insurance claims. Helen Lee, a staff attorney for legislative counsel, told the committee that the amendment removes those claim adjustments from the UTPA provisions that directly reference real‑estate goods or services but cautioned that other sections of ORS 646608 that broadly define unlawful practices might still apply unless corresponding language is changed there as well. "To fully carve out," Lee said, would require an additional change to the statute referenced in the bill.
Representative Wallen, citing Lee’s explanation, moved to refer the bill to the Rules Committee on the ground that the dash‑1 did not accomplish a complete ban on third‑party suits as some supporters expected; that motion failed on roll call. The committee then adopted the dash‑1 amendment and approved a motion to send HB 4,098 to the floor as amended with a due‑pass recommendation. Members noted Rep. Dobson will be listed as the bill carrier and one member indicated intent to file a minority report.
What’s next: With the committee’s recommendation, HB 4,098 will go to the House floor for further consideration. The record shows lawmakers debated whether the dash‑1 sufficiently insulated third‑party claim adjustments from other UTPA provisions and legislative counsel advised additional statutory edits would be necessary to ensure a complete carve‑out.
