A proposal by Arizona State Senator Karen Fann (R-Prescott) to eliminate the requirement that automobile insurance companies provide glass coverage without a deductible appears to be dead.
Section 20-264, Arizona Revised Statutes, currently provides:
Automobile insurance; damaged safety equipment deductible optional; definition
A. Any insurer writing private passenger automobile insurance which includes comprehensive coverage for motor vehicle damage shall provide at the option of the insured complete coverage for the repair or replacement of all damaged safety equipment without regard to any deductible.
B. As used in this section, “safety equipment” means the glass used in the windshield, doors and windows and the glass, plastic or other material used in the lights of a motor vehicle.
Senator Fann's bill, SB1169, would have amended Section 20-264 to read:
Automobile insurance; damaged safety equipment; optional coverage; definition
A. Any insurer writing private passenger automobile insurance THAT includes comprehensive coverage for motor vehicle damage MAY OFFER coverage for the repair or replacement of all damaged safety equipment THAT MAY BE SUBJECT to A deductible OFFERED BY THE INSURER AND SELECTED BY THE INSURED.
B. FOR THE PURPOSES OF this section, “safety equipment” means the glass used in the windshield, doors and windows and the glass, plastic or other material used in the lights of a motor vehicle.
Insurance companies reportedly sought the change in law to fight excess use, and fraud. Consumers and auto glass companies objected and the bill appeared unlikely to pass, leading Senator Fann to tell a reporter, “I am not reviving the zero-deductible auto glass, and I am not going to strike it onto another bill.”
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Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].