SF 3508 in Minnesota passed yesterday in the Minnesota legislature. Some key points of the bill exerpted are:
Subdivision 1. Prohibitions on insurer. No adjuster or insurer, director, officer,
1.8broker, agent, attorney-in-fact, employee, or other representative of an insurer shall
1.9in collision cases:
1.10(a) (1) limit the freedom of an insured or claimant to choose the shop;
1.11(b) (2) require that an insured or claimant present the claim or the automobile for
1.12loss adjustment or inspection at a “drive-in” claim center or any other similar facility
1.13solely under the control of the insurer;
1.14(c) (3) engage in boycotts, intimidation or coercive tactics in negotiating repairs to
1.15damaged motor vehicles which they insure or are liable to claimants to have repaired;
1.16(d) (4) attempt to secure, except in an emergency, the insured’s or claimant’s
1.17signature authorizing the party securing the signature to act in behalf of the insured or
1.18claimant in selection of a repair shop facility;
1.19(e) (5) adjust a damage appraisal of a repair shop when the extent of damage is in
1.20dispute without conducting a physical inspection of the vehicle; or
1.21(f) (6) specify the use of a particular vendor for the procurement of parts or other
1.22materials necessary for the satisfactory repair of the vehicle. This clause does not require
1.23the insurer to pay more than a reasonable market price for parts of like kind and quality
1.24in adjusting a claim.; or
2.1 (7) unilaterally and arbitrarily disregard a repair operation or cost identified by an
2.2estimating system, which an insurer and collision repair facility have agreed to utilize
2.3in determining the cost of repair.