California Senate Bill SB1065 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1065AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2014 INTRODUCED BY Senator Monning FEBRUARY 18, 2014 An act to amend  Section 116 of   Sections 11629.85 and 13902 of, and to add Section 45.5 to,  the Insurance Code, relating to insurance. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1065, as amended, Monning.  Insurance.   Insurance: reports: electronic submission.   Existing law provides for the regulation of insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law directs the Insurance Commissioner to enforce the execution of laws regulating the business of insurance. The existing Insurance Code requires various entities to submit certain reports to specified committees of the Legislature.   This bill would, except as specified, authorize reports required to be submitted to a committee of the Legislature pursuant to the Insurance Code to be submitted electronically, as specified. The bill would also make other technical, nonsubstantive changes.   Under existing law, automobile insurance includes, among other things, a contract of warranty or guaranty that promises service, maintenance, parts replacement, repair, money, or other indemnity in the event of loss or damage to a motor vehicle. Automobile insurance also includes an agreement that promises repair or replacement of a motor vehicle, or part of a motor vehicle, after a mechanical or electrical breakdown at either no cost or a reduced cost to the agreementholder.   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 45.5 is added to the   Insurance Code   , to read:   45.5. (a) A report required under this code to be submitted to a committee of the Legislature may be submitted electronically in any of the following ways: (1) Providing the committee a digital copy of the report delivered by electronic means to a person or account designated to receive reports and in a form acceptable to the committee. (2) Providing the committee a digital copy of the report stored on permanent media delivered by first-class mail. (3) Placing the report on the reporting entity's Internet Web site so that it is publicly available for a period of no less than three years. If a report is submitted electronically in accordance with this paragraph, the committee shall be provided notice of the report that includes specific instructions on how to access the report and how to request a hardcopy. The notice shall be delivered by first-class mail or by electronic means, and addressed to the person or account designated to receive reports and in a form acceptable to the committee. (b) This section shall not apply to reports required under Sections 38.5, 10089.13, 10965.9, and 11885, of the Insurance Code.   SEC. 2.   Section 11629.85 of the   Insurance Code   is amended to read: 11629.85. (a) On or before March 1 of each year, the commissioner shall prepare and propose a plan to the Senate Committee on  Banking, Finance, and  Insurance and the Assembly Committee on Insurance setting forth the methods the commissioner intends to implement to inform households eligible for the program about the availability of low-cost automobile insurance. To be eligible for funding through the budget process, the plan shall be reviewed by the Senate Committee on  Banking, Finance, and  Insurance and the Assembly Committee on Insurance. The information required under subdivision (c) shall also be provided to the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing and the Assembly Committee on Transportation. (b) The plan shall include, at a minimum, a brief description of methods proposed to be used, anticipated costs, sources of revenue, goals, targets, objectives, and a justification of the proposed methods. The plan shall also explain how the department proposes to work in cooperation with the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan, the social service departments in eligible counties, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and community-based organizations in order to inform eligible households of the existence of the program. (c) The plan shall also include all of the following: (1) The commissioner's determination regarding whether the program has been successful, based on the criteria specified in subdivision (d), and an explanation regarding that success or lack thereof. (2) In cooperation with the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan, structural characteristics of the program that may require statutory revision in order for the program to succeed or to improve upon existing success. (3) Impediments to success of the program that can reasonably be overcome by revision to the strategies adopted by the department. (4) A detailed explanation of the department's use for the program of funds assessed pursuant to Section 1872.81. (5) For the previous calendar year, a list of the total low-cost auto premium for each county in which the program was available. (d) The program is successful if the following occur: (1) The program generated sufficient premiums to cover losses incurred under policies issued under the program, and expenses incurred by the program, as calculated pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 11629.72. (2) The program served the public purpose of offering access to automobile insurance to otherwise underserved communities in the program areas. (3) The program offered access to automobile insurance to previously uninsured motorists seeking affordable coverage in the program areas. (4) The program's outreach efforts lead uninsured motorists to contact a producer, and the driver obtains any auto insurance policy that complies with California law. (e) Any written or oral advertisements, including, but not limited to, paid or unpaid commercial or noncommercial advertising, by the department with reference to the low-cost automobile insurance program shall reference the department and shall not reference the commissioner by name or office, or include the commissioner's voice, image, or likeness. The department shall not participate with any nongovernmental entity that produces or intends to produce advertisements or educational material that include the name of the commissioner or his or her voice, image, or likeness, and that are intended to make eligible households aware of the existence of low-cost automobile insurance.  SEC. 3.   Section 13902 of the   Insurance Code   is amended to read:  13902. (a) Any insurance pool, established pursuant to this division, may be organized as a nonprofit corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or trust, whether organized under the laws of this state or another state or operating in another state. (b) Any insurance pool established pursuant to this division shall have initial pooled resources of not less than two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) in the form of cash or cash equivalents. (c) Any insurance pool established pursuant to this division shall maintain adequate reinsurance to protect against its risks. (d) Any insurance pool established pursuant to this division shall furnish a copy of the pool's annual audited financial statement and most recent actuarial review, by first-class mail or by any other method of delivery, including electronic transmission, to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development, the Assembly Committee on Insurance, the Senate Committee on  Banking, Finance, and  Insurance, and the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing within 180 days of the close of the pool's fiscal year. If, in the period of time since the last submittal required by this subdivision, any of the following has occurred, the transmittal letter accompanying the annual audited financial statement and most recent actuarial review shall so indicate and shall provide a brief description of each matter: (1) There has been a change to the pool's plan of financing, management, or operation, including any material amendment to any of those plans. (2) A claims audit report has been filed with any regulatory body with respect to the pool. (3) A report of examination issued by any regulatory body with respect to the pool has been received. (4) There has been a material change in the scope of the regulation of the pool by other states in which the pool operates.  SECTION 1.   Section 116 of the Insurance Code is amended to read: 116. (a) Automobile insurance includes insurance of automobile owners, users, dealers, or others having insurable interests therein, against hazards incident to ownership, maintenance, operation, and use of automobiles, other than loss resulting from accident or physical injury, fatal or nonfatal, to, or death of, any natural person. (b) Automobile insurance also includes a contract of warranty or guaranty that promises service, maintenance, parts replacement, repair, money, or any other indemnity in event of loss of or damage to a motor vehicle or a trailer, as defined by Section 630 of the Vehicle Code, or any part thereof from any cause, including loss of or damage to or loss of use of the motor vehicle or trailer by reason of depreciation, deterioration, wear and tear, use, obsolescence, or breakage if made by a warrantor or guarantor who is doing an insurance business. (c) Automobile insurance also includes an agreement that promises repair or replacement of a motor vehicle, or part thereof, after a mechanical or electrical breakdown, at either no cost or a reduced cost for the agreement holder. However, automobile insurance does not include a vehicle service contract subject to Part 8 (commencing with Section 12800) of Division 2, or an agreement deemed not to be insurance under that part. (d) The doing or proposing to do business in substance equivalent to the business described in this section in a manner designed to evade the provisions of this section is the doing of an insurance business.