No. HB 341
Filed under Insurance.
Resolution of Disputed Property Insurance Claims; Requires parties in property insurance claim dispute to participate in mediation; provides that mediation is condition precedent to commencing litigation; provides that parties may mutually agree to conduct mediation by teleconference or other electronic means; requires all insureds, or their representatives, to attend mediation; revises & specifies duties relating to bearing certain costs of mediation; provides appropriation. APPROPRIATION: $1,000,000
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDMediation over a disputed property insurance claim stops being optional. It becomes mandatory, and a policyholder or insurer must complete it before either side can sue over that same dispute.
A policyholder who signs a mediated settlement keeps 3 business days to rescind it only if they had no attorney or public adjuster representing them. Represented policyholders lose that automatic window.
Insurers used to be barred from requiring mediation until they had processed the claim or decided on a reinspection within 90 days. That limit is repealed, and policyholders must now hand over claim documents within 10 days of mediation being invoked.
Every named insured or their representative must now attend mediation in person or by teleconference, and anyone who brings an expert or extra representative pays that cost themselves.
AIMediation of a covered property claim dispute is no longer a voluntary alternative. It now applies automatically to eligible claims, and the bill states outright that mediation is a condition precedent to filing a lawsuit against the insurer over that dispute.
AIA dispute no longer counts as a mediable 'claim' whenever the insurer decides there is no coverage. Previously that exclusion applied only if the insurer and policyholder had already agreed on the facts behind the cause of loss.
AIA policyholder who signs a written mediation settlement keeps the standing 3-business-day right to rescind it only if they were not represented by an attorney or a public adjuster at the mediation.
AIAn insurer could not previously require mediation until it had complied with claim-handling deadlines or elected to reinspect the property within 90 days of the loss notice. That restriction is deleted, removing the timing check on when an insurer can compel mediation.
AIA policyholder is excused from the insurer's mandatory loss-appraisal process after a rejected mediation regardless of who requested that mediation. Previously this exemption applied only when the insurer, not the policyholder, had been the one to request it.
AIOnce mediation is invoked, the policyholder must give the insurer the information and supporting documents behind the claim within 10 days, a new deadline with no counterpart requirement shown for the insurer.
AIAll named insureds on the policy, or a representative standing in for each of them, must attend the mediation conference whether it happens in person or by teleconference.
AIIf a party brings an expert or an extra representative to the mediation conference, that party, not the insurer, must cover the cost of that person's attendance.