NCOIL Crash-Parts Vote Delayed Until March 2011

NU Online News Service, Nov. 23, 12:05 p.m. EST

State lawmakers resolved to take a final vote on a model law related to the use of aftermarket parts for repairs paid for by auto insurance in March 2011, a Kansas legislator reported over the weekend.

A vote on a measure to strengthen consumer choice in auto repair and replacement–the "Model Act Regarding Motor Vehicle Crash Parts and Repair"– was expected to take place at the annual meeting of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) in Austin.

Instead, NCOIL's Property-Casualty Insurance Committee chose to delay the final vote in order to have a chance to evaluate possible unintended consequences of its model language, according to the committee's chair.

The proposed model law, the result of a year and a half of special NCOIL meetings and conference calls, would:

o Require disclosure and consent before a crash part is repaired or replaced.

o Set ground rules for auto insurers to specify aftermarket crash parts.

o Require lasting, visible labels on crash parts.

The proposal would also require insurers to confirm that an aftermarket crash part warranty at least equals that for an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) version.

The NCOIL committee defeated an amendment that deemed "certified" aftermarket parts to be equivalent to OEMs.

The defeat of this amendment prompted the decision to defer a final vote on the proposal until the spring meeting.

Committee Chair Sen. Ruth Teichman, R-Kan., said, "Although many of us gathered in Texas expected to walk away from the meeting with a decision, this just isn't the time to end debate."

She explained that "legislators felt that defeat of the equivalency amendment, in addition to a vote that had freed insurers from paying for needed modifications to non-OEM parts, would create a loophole in which consumers would be unprotected from poor quality materials."

She added, "Vehicle owners cannot be left stranded."

"We have vowed to take an up-or-down vote on this model at the spring meeting and put to rest an issue that has drawn NCOIL time and attention for more than a decade," she said.