House Bill No. 543

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________

A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act prohibiting an insurance company from requiring an insured person to use a specific automobile body repair shop; and providing an immediate effective date."

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:

NEW SECTION. Section 1.  Designation of specific automobile body repair shops prohibited. (1) An insurance company, including its producers and adjusters, that issues or renews a policy of insurance in this state covering, in whole or in part, a motor vehicle may not:

(a) require that a person insured under the policy use a particular automobile repair business or location; or

(b) engage in any act or practice that intimidates, coerces, or threatens an insured person or provides an incentive or inducement for an insured person to use a particular automobile repair business or location. For the purpose of this section, an insurance company's reference to a warranty issued by an automobile body repair service is not considered an incentive or inducement.

(2) If an insurance company, including its producers and adjusters, provides an insured with a list of particular automobile repair businesses or locations, in addition to the prohibition in subsection (1)(b), the insurance company may not state, suggest, or imply that an automobile body repair service not on the list does not:

(a) provide prompt, dependable, or quality service;

(b) provide warranties or guarantees on work quality; or

(c) have adequate equipment or trained personnel.

(3) The insured may use a company or location at the insured's sole discretion, and subject to subsection (4), the insurance company shall promptly pay for the cost of the automobile body repair services for covered damages, less any deductible under the terms of the policy.

(4) This section does not require an insurer to pay more for automobile body repair services than the lowest prevailing market price, as defined in 33-18-222.

(5) For purposes of this section, "automobile repair business or location" does not include a business or location that provides automobile glass replacement, glass repair services, or glass products.

NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 33, chapter 18, part 2, and the provisions of Title 33, chapter 18, part 2, apply to [section 1].

NEW SECTION. Section 3.  Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.

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