Workers' compensation insurance: dispute resolution: arbitration clauses.

Existing law requires that a workers' compensation insurance policy or endorsement not be issued by an insurer unless the insurer files a copy of the form or endorsement with a rating organization and 30 days have expired from the date the form or endorsement is received by the Insurance Commissioner from the rating organization without notice from the commissioner, unless the commissioner gives written approval of the form or the endorsement prior to that time. This bill would require an insurer that intends to use a dispute resolution or arbitration agreement to resolve disputes arising in California out of a workers' compensation insurance policy or endorsement issued to a California employer, as defined, to disclose to the employer, contemporaneously with any written quote that offers to provide insurance coverage, that choice of law and choice of venue or forum may be a jurisdiction other than California and that these terms are negotiable between the insurer and the employer. The bill would require that the employer sign the disclosure, as evidence of receipt, when the employer accepts the offer of coverage. The bill would authorize the dispute resolution or arbitration agreement to be negotiated before any dispute arises. These provisions would apply to workers' compensation policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2012.