Despite overwhelming support from lawmakers in 2021, a bill promoting paint and materials guidelines and scanning and calibration OEM repair procedures was shot down by a New Hampshire House committee this month.
The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee deemed House Bill 310 “Inexpedient to Legislate” within an 18-0 vote March 9.
HB 310 might have established “a rebuttable presumption that manufacturer strategies for scans and calibrations are necessary for vehicle safety and for restoration of a vehicle to the pre-loss condition. No insurance company, agent, or adjuster shall knowingly neglect to pay a claim towards the claimant unless such presumption has been rebutted by evidence the scan and calibration are not essential for vehicle safety and also to restore an automobile to the pre-loss condition.”
The shop performing the scan or calibration is able to disregard the OEM’s “tooling or equipment” requirements, but they must still “calibrate a sophisticated driver assistance system meeting or exceeding the manufacturer’s recommendations for scans and calibrations.”
The insurer would also have the burden of proof when they disagreed having a shop’s estimate “based upon independent third party paint and material guidelines used by the repairer.” HB 310 would establish a “rebuttable presumption” that those operations were “necessary to restore a vehicle to the pre-loss condition. No insurance company, agent, or adjuster shall knowingly neglect to pay claims to the claimant unless this presumption continues to be rebutted by evidence the paint and material estimate is not necessary to restore a vehicle to the pre-loss condition.”
The bill’s failure represents a substantial reversal when compared to success of their predecessors, 2021’s House Bill 1455 and 2021’s HB 664.
Both houses from the Nh Legislature passed HB 664 in 2021, only to possess the measure vetoed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. That OEM repair procedure bill was even broader compared to 2021 and 2021 bills, signing up to every situation except parts and tools for digitizing and calibration.
2021’s HB 1455 — which is just like this year’s HB 310 — passed the House 216-120 and drew support from the 2021 Commerce Committee. Using the 2021 session crimped by the COVID-19 coronavirus response, senators dicated to table that measure, moving supported by bill promoters at the time.
Sponsor Rep. Kenneth Weyler, R-Kingston, described challenges during this year’s Commerce Committee Zoom hearing proceedings.
Weyler wrote in an email March 12 he had difficulties connecting. “I paid attention to the committee for 25 minutes while attempting to join. There was a really confused conversation. Many of the members who voted for this last year weren't there. … Once i spoke, four lobbyists for the insurance companies spoke, all pushing the same theme. ‘It will make insurance more expensive.'”
“Rep. Weyler had technical difficulties getting into the hearing … on Zoom, and so i stepped in to perform a very rough presentation as co-sponsor,” Rep. Walter Stapleton, R-Claremont, wrote within an email March 12.
“Apparently, I bombed is maybe why the ITL vote came out this way?”
