Draft legislation by Connecticut AG cracks down on steering

HARTFORD, Ct. — Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has drafted legislation that would strengthen Connecticut's anti-steering law and announced the legislation with leaders of the Auto Body Association of Connecticut (ABAC) who say insurer steering is common in the industry and stifles fair competition. The proposal, modeled after a Rhode Island law, would bolster the state's ability to enforce anti-steering violations, which is considered an unfair or deceptive insurance practice.

Blumenthal says insurers use a myriad of coercive methods to skirt his state’s current anti-steering law, including providing consumers with a "preferred" list of repairers, intimating that other repairers may not guarantee their work, may charge consumers for some of the repairs or may not complete the repairs in a timely fashion. Other insurers provide for a reduced deductible if the consumer chooses a preferred facility.

The proposed rules would expand the conditions in which regulators could enforce the law. Currently, insurers are prohibited from "requiring" that consumers repair their vehicle at a specific shop. Blumenthal's proposal would expand the prohibition to prevent insurers from using subtle coercion to steer consumers.

Blumenthal's proposal requires insurers to pay the reasonable and customary hourly rate that a consumer would typically pay for the repair — to the shop of the consumers' choice. Under the proposal, appraisers would have to include the following explicit and conspicuous boldface notice to inform consumers of their rights:

PURSUANT TO CONNECTICUT LAW, THE CONSUMER HAS A RIGHT TO CHOOSE THE REPAIR FACILITY TO COMPLETE REPAIRS TO A MOTOR VEHICLE; AND AN INSURANCE COMPANY MAY NOT INTERFERE WITH THE CONSUMER'S CHOICE OF REPAIRER.

"The bottom line: consumers deserve to choose where their car is repaired," says Blumenthal. "No insurer should straightjacket consumers, forcing them to use a 'preferred' shop. This law is intended to preserve consumer choice and industry competition — deterring anticompetitive relationships between certain insurers and auto repairers."