LCO No. 4701 1 of 2 General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7266 January Session, 2019 LCO No. 4701 Referred to Committee on INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE Introduced by: (INS) AN ACT CONCERNING DE VIATIONS FROM MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISION REPAIR GUIDELINES, PROCEDURES, RECOMMENDATIONS AND SERVICE BULLETINS. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) Notwithstanding any 1 provision of the general statutes, no motor vehicle insurance policy 2 that is delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or endorsed 3 in this state on or after October 1, 2019, shall require a motor vehicle 4 repair shop, as defined in section 14-65e of the general statutes, to 5 deviate from the collision repair guidelines, procedures, 6 recommendations and service bulletins issued by the vehicle or 7 original equipment manufacturer. 8 Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 14-65f of the general statutes is 9 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 10 October 1, 2019): 11 (a) (1) Prior to performing any repair work on a motor vehicle, a 12 motor vehicle repair shop shall obtain a written authorization to 13 perform the work, on an invoice signed by the customer, that includes 14 an estimate in writing of the maximum cost to the customer of the 15 Raised Bill No. 7266 LCO No. 4701 2 of 2 parts and labor necessary for the specific job authorized. A repair shop 16 shall not: [charge] (A) Charge for work done or parts supplied without 17 a written authorization from the customer or in excess of the estimate 18 unless the customer gives consent orally or in writing; or (B) deviate 19 from the collision repair guidelines, procedures, recommendations and 20 service bulletins issued by the vehicle or original equipment 21 manufacturer without a written authorization from the customer. 22 (2) In addition to, or as part of, the written authorization set forth in 23 subdivision (1) of this subsection, a motor vehicle repair shop shall 24 obtain a written acknowledgment that the customer is aware of his or 25 her right to choose the licensed repair shop where the motor vehicle 26 will be repaired. Such acknowledgment shall read as follows: "I am 27 aware of my right to choose the licensed repair shop where the 28 damage to the motor vehicle will be repaired." A repair shop shall not 29 repair a motor vehicle without such acknowledgment, which may be 30 transmitted by facsimile or by electronic mail. 31 This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 14-65f(a) Statement of Purpose: To provide that no: (1) Motor vehicle insurance policy delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or endorsed in this state shall require a motor vehicle repair shop to deviate from the collision repair guidelines, procedures, recommendations and service bulletins issued by vehicle and original equipment manufacturers; and (2) motor vehicle repair shop shall deviate from such guidelines, procedures, recommendations and bulletins without customer authorization. [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.]