Insurance related activity continues at a moderate pace as the session just completed day 21 of the 2012 session. As we move close to day 30, we will begin to see more urgency in committee action.

METAL THEFT

• (SUB) HB 872 – Jason Shaw – (R-Lakeland; District 176) - Representative Shaw released a DRAFT substitute to his Bill (HB 872) on Friday, February 17. The substitute Bill contains language from other pending legislation that should address problems not covered in his original draft. Hopefully, HB 872 will be heard in committee the week of February 21.
  • New language:
    • Provisions covering air conditioning recycling and sale of outdated unites; lines 56 thru 78
    • Vehicle, tools, and weapons forfeiture provisions; lines 208 thru 341
    • Changes “permit” to “registration”
    • Changes definitions  and use of “regulated metal property”
    • Changes GBI to Secretary of State

Other Metal Theft Bills:

• HB 888 - Tom Rice – (R-Norcross; District 51)
• HB 900 - Tom Rice – (R-Norcross; District 51)
• SB 296 - Joshua McKoon – (R; District 29)
• SB 321 - Renee Unterman – (R; District 45)

NEW  LEGISLATION

WINE TASTING

• HB 867 - Allen Peake (R-Macon; District 137) - Authorizes consumption of packages of wine on premises for the purpose of conducting wine tasting pursuant to local ordinance at a retail store or shop.

BAD FAITH

• HB 960 - Roger Lane (R-Darien; District 167) - Would impose certain requirements on plaintiffs’ demands, including providing insurers 60  days to respond to demands and preclude bad faith claims for noncompliant demands.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• HB 986 – Bill Hembree (R-Winston; District 67)
• SB 450 - David Shafer (R – District 48) - In the event of a complaint or dispute arises from material provided in a language other than English, the English language version of the policy would be used to decide the merit of the case/dispute.

UPDATES FROM PRIOR REPORTS

Limited Licenses

• HB 463 - Matt Dollar – (R-Marietta; District 45) - Allows self-storage facilities to sell individual insurance coverage on personal property stored in self-storage units.

Passed – Administrative/Licensing Sub-committee –

• Chairman Richard Smith (R-Columbus; District 131) House Insurance Committee Chairman may amend HB 463 to require disclosure that coverage may be available under the lessee’s homeowners policy

Guaranteed Asset Protection waivers

• HB 820 - Howard Maxwell – (R-Dallas; District 17) - Provides purchasers of vehicles with guaranteed coverage of auto loan if vehicle is total-loss during term of loan.
• House Insurance Committee amended to incorporate the provisions of HB 819 (Providing that sellers of vehicle service agreements or extended warranties are also not required to be backed by insurance)

Biennial agent licensing based on licensee’s birth month

• HB 477 - Jason Shaw – (R-Lakeland; District 176) - Allows Insurance Commissioner to implement a new renewal system – Renewal required every two years, current hours unchanged, current fee schedule remains unchanged. Passed – Senate / Waiting for Full House to agree to Senate version
• No action week of February 15-17