September 30, 2014, was the deadline for Governor Jerry Brown to take action on bills passed by the California Legislature during the 2014 regular legislative session. Here are summaries of noteworthy insurance-related bills that were signed into law. Unless noted otherwise, these new laws will go into effect on January 1, 2015.
Assembly Bills
AB 1234 - provides in statute that information reported in the registration statement required by the Insurance Holding Company System Regulatory Act and information and documents disclosed in the course of an examination or investigation made pursuant to the Act is not subject to discovery from the commissioner and is not admissible into evidence in any private civil action if obtained from the commissioner in any manner.
AB 1395 - increases from $0.25 to $0.26 the annual per vehicle fee assessment on automobile insurance policies which funds consumer service functions at the Department of Insurance related to automobile insurance; the assessment will remain at $0.26 until January 1, 2016, thereafter the amount of the assessment will be determined by the insurance commissioner but may not exceed $0.26. AB 1395 also clarifies that an insurer, after it remits the $0.15 Seismic Safety Commission assessment on property insurance policies to the Department of Insurance, does not owe a duty to the policyholder to return a portion of the assessment in the event the policy is terminated early.
AB 1804 - requires private passenger auto insurers, residential property insurers, and insurers providing individual disability income insurance to maintain a verifiable process or to adopt a procedure that allows an applicant or policyholder to designate one additional person to receive notice of lapse, termination, expiration, nonrenewal, or cancellation of a policy for nonpayment of premium. AB 1804 does not apply to policies of private passenger auto insurance that provide coverage for less than six months. AB 1804 will become operative on January 1, 2016.
AB 1897 - adds a section to the Labor Code which provides that when a client employer obtains or is provided workers from a labor contractor to perform labor within the employer’s usual course of business, the client employer and the labor contractor share all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for all workers supplied by the labor contractor for both the payment of wages and the failure to obtain workers’ compensation insurance.
AB 2056 - requires pet insurance policies to include specified disclosures, including policy exclusions, any waiting period or deductible, and whether the insurer reduces coverage or increases premium based on claim history. AB 2056 also sets forth definitions of certain terms, including “chronic condition,” “hereditary disorder,” and “veterinary expenses,” which a pet insurer must include in its policies if the insurer uses any of the terms in its policies. AB 2056 applies to any policy of pet insurance which is marketed, issued, amended, renewed, or delivered to a California resident on or after July 1, 2015.
AB 2064 - revises the disclosure language which must be included in a residential property insurer’s mandatory offer of earthquake insurance. The disclosure revisions enacted in AB 2064 will become operative on January 1, 2016. AB 2064 also increases the statutory cap on the California Earthquake Authority’s operating expenses from 3% of its premium income to not more than 6% of its premium income.
AB 2128 - extends the sunset date on the statutory provisions relating to the Department of Insurance’s California Organized Investment Network (COIN) from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2020. Existing law requires all admitted insurers to file data on their community development investments in California. AB 2128 limits the requirement to report on community development investments to each admitted insurer with annual premiums written in California equal to or in excess of $100 million for any reporting year. AB 2128 further provides that an insurer meeting the $100 million threshold also must report on its community development infrastructure investments and its green investments in California. The information required by AB 2128 must be submitted by July, 1, 2016, on investments made or held during calendar years 2013, 2014, and 2015. AB 2128 also revises the information regarding insurer community development investments which the Department of Insurance is required to post on its website.
AB 2220 - requires private patrol operators to carry a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance coverage.
AB 2293 - establishes insurance requirements for a transportation network company which the bill defines as an entity “operating in California that provides prearranged transportation services for compensation using an online-enabled application or platform to connect passengers with drivers using a personal vehicle.” AB 2293 requires a transportation network company to maintain $1 million in primary liability coverage from the moment a participating driver accepts a ride request until the driver completes the transaction on the online-enabled application or platform or until the ride is complete, whichever is later. In the timeframe from when a participating driver logs on to the transportation network company’s online-enabled application or platform until the driver accepts a request to transport a passenger, the transportation network company insurance must maintain primary liability insurance coverage in the amount of at least $50,000/$100,000/$30,000; the company also must maintain excess coverage of at least $200,000. The statutory section on insurance coverage enacted by AB 2293 states that nothing in the section “shall be construed to require a private passenger automobile insurance policy to provide primary or excess coverage during the period of time from the moment a participating driver in a transportation network company logs on to the transportation network company’s online-enabled application or platform until the driver logs off the online-enabled application or platform or the passenger exists the vehicle, whichever is later.” These provisions of AB 2293 become operative on July 1, 2015.
AB 2494 - authorizes a trial court to order a party, the party’s attorney, or both to pay reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred by another party as a result of bad-faith actions or tactics that are frivolous or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay.
AB 2734 - makes changes to the Insurance Code which the Assembly Insurance Committee characterizes as “noncontroversial.” Among other changes, AB 2734 1) increases from $5,000 to $20,000 the annual tax threshold which triggers the obligation on a surplus lines broker to make tax payments in monthly installments, 2) increases from $5,000 to $20,000 the annual tax threshold which triggers an obligation on an insurer to prepay taxes, 3) clarifies what constitutes “California business” for the purposes of insurers’ duty to file information with the insurance commissioner concerning procurement contracts with minority, women and disabled veteran-owned businesses, 4) changes the annual data call on private passenger auto insurance information to an every-other-year data call, 5) clarifies that the $5 million financial responsibility requirement for testing of autonomous vehicles may be satisfied with an insurance policy, and 6) authorizes the insurance commissioner to act on an application seeking status as a certified reinsurer 30 days after the application is published, rather than the 90 days required by existing law.
AB 2735 - sets forth in statute that a homeowner who has purchased an earthquake insurance policy that does not satisfy the standard coverage requirements must be reminded by the insurer at renewal that the homeowner has the right to purchase a policy that meets the standard coverage requirements. The reminder notice must be filed with the insurance commissioner 30 days before its first use and is subject to the commissioner’s disapproval.
Senate Bills
SB 1011 - authorizes certain 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to insure themselves against damage to property and the losses related to the loss of use of property though a risk pool arrangement.
SB 1205 - requires the Department of Insurance’s curriculum board to develop or recommend courses of study for agents and brokers on commercial earthquake risk management.
SB 1273 - extends the sunset date on the California Low-Cost Automobile Insurance Program from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2020. SB 1273 also amends several statutory provisions relating to the program. Among other changes to the program, SB 1273 1) increases the cap on the value of an automobile that may be insured under the program from $20,000 to $25,000 and authorizes the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan Advisory Committee to adopt a method to determine the value of an automobile, subject to the insurance commissioner’s approval, 2) allows a person who has fewer than three years of driving history to qualify for coverage under the program, and 3) entitles certified producers to a commission of 12% or $50, whichever is greater.
SB 1446 - allows a small employer health plan or a small employer health insurance policy that was in effect on December 31, 2013, that is still in effect on the effective date of SB 1446, and that does not qualify as a grandfathered health plan under the federal Affordable Care Act, to be renewed until January 1, 2015, and to continue to be in force until December 31, 2015. SB 1446 went into effect on July 7, 2014.
