STAND. COM. REP. NO.620-02
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2002
RE: H.B. No. 2412
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2002
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2412 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INSURERS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to require insurers to:
(1) Maintain a complete claims service office or engage an independent adjusting service as its claims agent in the State;
(2) Establish civil penalties for noncompliance;
(3) Authorize enforcement by the state Attorney General upon request by the Insurance Commissioner (Commissioner); and
(4) Clarify that certain individuals whose activities are not deemed to be those of an adjuster under current law, must be "domiciled."
The Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) supported the intent of this measure and suggested amendments. State Farm Insurance offered comments.
Your Committees find that requiring insurers to maintain a complete claims service office in the State will benefit policyholders by providing them with quicker service and adequate safeguards to ensure timely claims processing.
However, your Committees recognize DCCA's concerns that the penalties under the bill's proposed enforcement scheme are more restrictive than those currently available under the Commissioner's general powers to administer the insurance law, as provided by article 2 of chapter 431, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS).
Your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Replacing the bill's enforcement scheme with a reference to penalties that the Commissioner is authorized to impose under section 431:2-203, HRS, to enforce the insurance law;
(2) Adding to the list of activities not prohibited by this bill, "reporting to" non-domiciled personnel;
(3) Removing the amendment that the bill would have made to the provisions of the law listing activities that are not deemed to be those of an adjuster;
(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion; and
(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2412, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2412, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,
|
____________________________ ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair |
____________________________ KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair |
|