Motor vehicle insurance: auto body repair.

Existing law makes certain business practices in insurance unlawful, including, but not limited to, an insurer requiring an auto body repair shop, as a condition of participation in the insurer's direct repair program, to pay for the cost of an insured's rental vehicle that is replacing an insured vehicle damaged in an accident, or to pay for the towing charges of the insured with respect to that accident. Existing law also requires any insurer that conducts an auto body repair labor rate survey to determine and set a specified prevailing auto body repair labor rate in a specific geographic area to report the results of that survey to the Department of Insurance, which is required to make the information available upon request. This bill would delete the above-described provisions regarding an auto body repair labor rate survey and instead would require an insurer that conducts or uses a survey that establishes a prevailing auto body repair labor rate in a specific geographic area to report the results of the survey to the department at least every 24 months and would require the survey results to contain specified information, including, among other things, the name and physical address of each auto body repair shop surveyed, the total number of auto body repair shops surveyed, and a description of the geographic area covered. The bill would authorize the department to have access to all labor rate survey responses, a list of surveyed auto repair shops, the method for selecting surveyed shops, and the information used by the insurer to determine the geographic area for the survey and would require the department to keep all that information confidential, as specified. The bill would provide that a survey that complies with specified standards and requirements be accorded the status of a rebuttable presumption by the commissioner that the insurer has attempted in good faith to effectuate a fair and equitable labor rate component of a claim settlement or an adjustment of the labor rate component of a written estimate provided by a claimant. Existing law prohibits insurers from requiring that an automobile be repaired at a specific automotive repair dealer, as defined. Under existing law, an insurer may suggest or recommend a specific automotive repair dealer under specified circumstances, including when a referral is expressly requested by the claimant. Existing law authorizes an insurer to provide a claimant with specific truthful and nondeceptive information regarding the services and benefits available to the claimant during the claims process. This bill would authorize an insurer to provide the claimant, at any time, with specific, truthful, and nondeceptive information including, among other things, a description of the insurer's direct repair program and information identifying available participating direct repair program repair shops and information about the types of parts that may be used in making the necessary repairs to the damaged motor vehicle. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.