Researcher: DC Page 1 2/25/21
OLR Bill Analysis
SB 264
AN ACT CONCERNING FAIR REIMBURSEMENT TO RETAIL
DEALERS OF POWER EQUIPMENT.
SUMMARY
By law, for outdoor (i.e., farm, forestry, yard, and garden)
equipment warranties contractually serviced by an authorized dealer,
the supplier must approve or deny claims for parts and services within
30 days. Suppliers must then pay the claims within 30 days after
approving them. This bill requires equipment suppliers to compensate
their authorized dealers for repairs performed under these warranties
at the (1) current net price (presumably at the time of the claim) plus
18% for any parts and (2) dealer’s posted hourly labor rate charged for
non-warranty repair work. It requires the dealer to give the supplier
prior notice of the labor rate, which must be reasonable in comparison
to other similarly sized brand dealers in their geographic area.
The bill also prohibits a supplier from denying a warranty claim or
charging it back following a timely audit based solely on the dealer’s
failure to comply with a claim processing procedure, clerical error, or
other administrative technicality, as long as the failure does not
challenge the claim’s legitimacy. It requires the supplier to allow the
dealer to resubmit a denied claim based on reasonable supplier
guidelines within 30 days after the initial denial or charge-back. Under
the bill, a reasonable deadline to submit claims or supporting materials
required by the supplier must not be considered a claim processing
procedure or administrative technicality.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2022
COMMITTEE ACTION
General Law Committee
Joint Favorable 2021SB-00264-R000007-BA.DOCX
Researcher: DC Page 2 2/25/21
Yea 19 Nay 0 (02/02/2021)