A bill pre-filled for the 2010 Kentucky legislative session would define "deceptive referral," also known as steering, and prohibit insurers from requiring claimants to have their vehicles repaired at specific shops. The bill also addresses labor rate issues.
Specifically, the bill, filed by Sen. Gary Tapp, would:
• Define “claimant,” “deceptive referral,” “request or require” and “usual and customary rate.”
• Create insurer notification requirements regarding the ability of a claimant to choose his or her own provider for vehicle repairs.
• Set forth requirements for payment of vehicle accident claims.
• Prohibit insurance companies from requesting or requiring that claim work be performed at a particular shop.
• Prohibit insurance companies from engaging in deceptive referral practices and set penalties for violations.
The bill would define “deceptive referral” as “any trade practice by which a consumer’s choice is changed, swayed or limited from what the consumer would or has chosen to do to another party by misleading statements, omissions, threats, deceptions, promises or inducements.”
Labor rates paid by insurers would be based on the “usual and customary rate,” which the bill defines as “the labor rate that the general public pays for similar repairs on similar motor vehicles in the same geographic area of the state.”
Kentucky’s legislative session begins Jan. 5, 2010. Click HERE for more information on the bill, including a link to download its full text.
