Sen. Dodd’s Insurance Adjuster Reform Bill Advances

SACRAMENTO, California, April 24 -- The California Senate Democrats issued the following news release:

Legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that seeks to eliminate confusion and delays caused by uninformed, out-of-state or multiple insurance adjusters during the 2017 North Bay wildfires cleared a key committee today.

Senate Bill 240 requires the California Department of Insurance to produce information on the most significant state insurance laws related to disasters and set training standards for agents handling catastrophic events. It also mandates that insurers provide a single point of contact for customers to make processing claims easier.

"After the devastating 2017 wildfires, we heard numerous complaints about insurance industry practices that delayed the processing of claims, and really, re-victimized the victims," Sen. Dodd said. "This bill will prevent that from happening again when the next fire or disaster strikes."

SB 240, which would become the Insurance Adjuster Act of 2019, passed the Insurance committee with overwhelming support. It heads next to Appropriations.

"Wildfire victims who lost everything cannot afford delays in the processing of their claims," said Ronit Rubinoff, executive director of Legal Aid of Sonoma County. "Nor do they need additional hurdles to jump in their recovery. In working with victims, we learned that many agents failed to properly apply California law. In addition, one of the chief complaints from our clients was having to navigate multiple, ever- changing agents in the claims process. This bill from Sen. Dodd will expedite claims by ensuring that insurance agents know and follow the laws, and by giving victims a single point of contact when processing their claims."