General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6380
January Session, 2013 LCO No. 2856
*02856_______INS*
Referred to Committee on INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE
Introduced by:
(INS)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 6380
January Session, 2013
LCO No. 2856
*02856_______INS*
Referred to Committee on INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE
Introduced by:
(INS)
AN ACT CONCERNING PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE POLICIES AND HOME IMPROVEMENT CONTRACTORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2013) (a) When a loss covered under a personal or commercial risk insurance policy requires the repair or replacement of any damaged item, part, component or material and such repair or replacement will not uniformly match adjacent undamaged items, parts, components or materials as to composition, color, texture, size or quality, such policy shall provide, subject to any applicable limit, for repair or replacement of adjacent undamaged items, parts, components or materials to achieve such uniformity. Any additional damage that is necessarily or unavoidably caused while such repair or replacement is being performed shall be included in the covered loss.
(b) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to impose liability on an insurer as a warrantor of any work performed pursuant to this subsection.
(c) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize or preclude enforcement of policy provisions relating to settlement disputes.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2013) (a) The declination, cancellation or nonrenewal of a homeowners insurance policy is prohibited if the declination, cancellation or nonrenewal is based solely on a loss incurred as a result of a catastrophic event. For the purposes of this section, an insurer shall not be deemed to have declined, cancelled or nonrenewed a policy if coverage is available through an affiliated insurer.
(b) The declination or nonrenewal of a homeowners insurance policy, the addition of a surcharge on a claim or an increase in the premium of such policy is prohibited if the declination, nonrenewal, surcharge or increase is based on any claim filed on the covered property while such property was owned by anyone other than the current applicant or insured, unless the risk from which such claim originated has not been mitigated.
(c) The cancellation or nonrenewal of a homeowners insurance policy or an increase in the premium of such policy is prohibited if the cancellation, nonrenewal or increase is based solely on inquiries made on such policy or a claim filed under such policy that resulted in a loss coverage payment by the insurer of less than five hundred dollars or in no loss coverage payment. Such prohibition shall not apply if the insured filed more than one claim resulting from a noncatastrophic event in the three policy years immediately preceding that resulted in any loss coverage payment by the insurer.
Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 20-427 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):
(b) No person shall: (1) Present or attempt to present, as such person's own, the certificate of another, (2) knowingly give false evidence of a material nature to the commissioner for the purpose of procuring a certificate, (3) represent himself or herself falsely as, or impersonate, a registered home improvement contractor or salesman, (4) use or attempt to use a certificate which has expired or which has been suspended or revoked, (5) offer to make or make any home improvement without having a current certificate of registration under this chapter, (6) represent in any manner that such person's registration constitutes an endorsement of the quality of such person's workmanship or of such person's competency by the commissioner, (7) employ or allow any person to act as a salesman on such person's behalf unless such person is registered as a home improvement salesman, [or] (8) fail to refund the amount paid for a home improvement within ten days of a written request mailed or delivered to the contractor's last known address, if no substantial portion of the contracted work has been performed at the time of the request and more than thirty days has elapsed since the starting date specified in the written contract, or more than thirty days has elapsed since the date of the contract if such contract does not specify a starting date, or (9) if such person is a home improvement contractor, engage in the activities of a public adjuster, as defined in section 38a-723, except that a home improvement contractor may explain or discuss a bid for construction or repair of property loss or damage covered under a homeowners insurance policy with an owner of such property or the insurer of such property, if such contractor does so for the usual and customary fees applicable to the work to be performed as stated in the home improvement contract between the contractor and the owner.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2013 20-427(b)
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 2
October 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 3
October 1, 2013
20-427(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) require personal and commercial risk insurance policies to provide, for a covered loss that requires repair or replacement of damaged items, parts, components or materials, for the repair or replacement of adjacent undamaged items, parts, components or materials to achieve uniformity as to composition, color, texture, size or quality, (2) regulate the declination, cancellation, nonrenewal of and premium increases for homeowners insurance policies, and (3) specify that a home improvement contractor shall not engage in the activities of a public adjuster.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]