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2019 ASCCA/CalABC/CAA Joint Legislative Day To Take Place April 23 by Ed Attanasio
Every year, without exception, more than 2,500 separate bills hit the Capitol in Sacramento, CA, all at once. How many of these will impact the collision repair industry, either positively or negatively? And how can body shops be a part of the legislative process before decisions are made that will change the industry forever? These are important questions often discussed in detail and addressed every year during the ASCCA/CalABC/CAA Joint Leg-
islative Day. This year, it will be held in Sacramento on April 23 and give automotive repair professionals an opportunity to meet with their state representatives. The day is sponsored by California Autobody Association (CAA); California Automotive Business Coalition (CalABC), an organization that has represented the automotive industry since 1992; and Automotive Service Councils of America (ASSCA), which represents the mechanical side of the industry. CAA lobbyist Jack Molodanof works closely with the association’s See Joint Legislative, Page 12
Class Action Against Allstate Can Continue; Company, Not State, Sets Rates, Appeals Court Says by Dan Churney, Cook County Record
In a split decision, an Illinois appeals panel stripped Allstate Insurance of its defenses against a class action that alleged the company unfairly billed long-term auto policyholders more than it charged new ones. The panel said Illinois insurers can’t protect their rates from lawsuits because their rates are not controlled by the Illinois Department of Insurance. The Jan. 29 ruling was delivered by Justice Judy Cates with concurrence from Justice Melissa
Chapman of Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court in Mt. Vernon. Justice James Moore dissented.
37 YEARS
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM Vol. 37 / Issue 4 / April 2019
NV Introduces Bill Requiring OEM Procedures, Prohibiting Aftermarket Parts on Newer Cars by Chasidy Rae Sisk
Four Nevada legislators recently introduced Assembly Bill 173, which would require repairers to adhere to OEM repair procedures and prohibit the use of aftermarket parts on vehicles 5 years old or newer. Assemblymen Richard Carrillo (D), Edgar Flores (D), Susie Martinez (D) and Bea Duran (D) are the bill’s sponsors. The bill would add the following verbiage to NRS 690B (which includes Nevada’s anti-steering law): “An insurer shall not require any body shop or garage to repair a motor vehicle in a manner which is contrary to the recommendations of the manufacturer of the motor vehicle.” This update would enact into law a prohibition against what Ne-
vada Insurance Commissioner Barbara Richardson deemed an unfair claims settlement practice in a 2016 Department of Insurance bulletin. She wrote, “If an insurer does not provide the required disclosures or refuses to authorize repairs in accordance with (OEM) specifications and/or repair industry standards, the insurer is engaging in unfair claimssettlement practices as defined in NRS 686A.310.” Despite the 2016 bulletin, last year Property and Casualty Chief Insurance Examiner Rajat Jain refused to confirm whether the agency considered it “reasonable” for the insurance company to reimburse the cost of following OEM repair procedures. In a letter to the SCRS, Jain wrote, “Repair procedures and instructions See OEM Procedures, Page 11
Court Junks Body Shops’ Antitrust Claims Against State Farm, Other Carriers by Greg Land, PropertyCasualty360.com
The ruling favored Illinois residents Jeffrey A. Corbin, Margaret A. Corbin and Anna Tryfonas in their class action complaint against Allstate. They brought the suit in 2016 to downstate Madison County Circuit Court, which is known as a See Class Action, Page 28
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has scrapped five combined lawsuits filed by auto body repair shops accusing State Farm Insurance and several other insurers of conspiring to punish shops that didn’t cooperate with its alleged scheme to fix prices and use sub-standard replacement parts. No Price-Fixing Eight of the nine judge en banc panel agreed that the repair shops’ complaints didn’t rise to the level of price-fixing and group-boycotting under the Sherman Antitrust Act, agreeing with a trial judge who dismissed the actions in 2016. The case has divided courts. In 2017, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh
Circuit had split the other way, with Judge Charles Wilson and a visiting judge sitting by appointment saying complaints should move forward, while a third, Senior Judge R. Lanier Anderson, dissented. The majority opinion made March 4 was written by Anderson with the concurrence of Chief Judge Ed Carnes and Judges Gerald Tjoflat, Adalberto Jordan, Kevin Newson, William Pryor, Beverly Martin and Elizabeth Branch. The dissenting opinion was crafted by Judge Charles Wilson, who had written the earlier opinion favoring the body shops. The most recent ruling dismissed the federal causes of action and two of three state claims, leaving alive only a claim for tortious interference. See Antitrust Claims, Page 24
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