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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 253
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 2010
Referred to Committee on GENERAL LAW
Introduced by:
(GL)
AN ACT CONCERNING FA IR REIMBURSEMENT TO RETAIL
DEALERS OF POWER EQU IPMENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 42-351 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2021): 2
(a) Whenever a supplier and a dealer enter into a dealer agreement 3
that provides for consumer warranties, the supplier shall pay any 4
warranty claim made for parts and service not later than thirty days 5
after receipt and approval of such claim by the supplier. The supplier 6
shall approve or disapprove a warranty claim not later than thirty days 7
after receipt of such claim by the supplier. If a warranty claim is not 8
disapproved in writing by the thirtieth day after receipt of such claim 9
by the supplier, it shall be deemed to be approved and payment shall be 10
made by the supplier not later than thirty days thereafter. 11
(b) A supplier that pays a warranty claim pursuant to subsection (a) 12
of this section shall pay the dealer the current net price plus eighteen 13
per cent for any parts and the posted hourly labor rate the dealer charges 14
consumers for nonwarranty repair work for service that has been 15
Raised Bill No. 253
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previously made known to the supplier, provided such rate is 16
reasonable, as compared to other same brand dealers of similar size in 17
the geographic vicinity of the dealer. 18
(c) A supplier shall not deny a warranty claim made by a dealer 19
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section or charge-back such a claim 20
following a timely audit based solely on the dealer's failure to comply 21
with a claim processing procedure, a clerical error or other 22
administrative technicality, provided the failure to comply does not call 23
into question the legitimacy of the claim without allowing the dealer an 24
opportunity to resubmit a denied claim according to reasonable 25
supplier guidelines not later than thirty days after the initial claim 26
denial or charge-back. A reasonable deadline to submit claims or 27
supporting materials required by the supplier shall not be considered a 28
claim processing procedure or administrative technicality. 29
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2021 42-351
Statement of Purpose:
To ensure fair reimbursement to retail dealers of power equipment
regarding certain warranty claims.
[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.]