Amy Bach of United Policyholders commented on yesterday’s post, The Obligation of Good Faith Claims Handling and Policyholders’ Perceptions of Why it Does Not Happen, She wrote:

“As usual, great point Chip. I helped write and pass a law in California that allows claimants to obtain claim related documents during the adjustment process. We tried to get a similar law passed in Louisiana after Katrina – and I’ve been thinking this would be a good concept to work on exporting nationwide….”

This is the California Law she referred to:

Cal Ins Code § 10082.3 Provisions regarding loss requirements, appraisals, and adjusters; Applicable policies

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following provisions regarding loss requirements, appraisals, and adjusters shall apply to the following types of policies originated or renewed on and after January 1, 2002: all policies of residential property insurance, as defined in Section 10087, all policies, endorsements, or certificates of insurance providing coverage for loss or damage caused by the peril of earthquake issued pursuant to this chapter; and all policies of basic residential earthquake insurance issued pursuant to Chapter 8.6 (commencing with Section 10089.5).

The insurer shall notify every claimant that they may obtain, upon request, copies of claim-related documents. For purposes of this section, “claim-related documents” means all documents that relate to the evaluation of damages, including, but not limited to, repair and replacement estimates and bids, appraisals, scopes of loss, drawings, plans, reports, third party findings on the amount of loss, covered damages, and cost of repairs, and all other valuation, measurement, and loss adjustment calculations of the amount of loss, covered damage, and cost of repairs. However, attorney work product and attorney-client privileged documents, and documents that indicate fraud by the insured or that contain medically privileged information, are excluded from the documents an insurer is required to provide pursuant to this section to a claimant. Within 15 calendar days after receiving a request from an insured for claim-related documents, the insurer shall provide the insured with copies of all claim-related documents, except those excluded by this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect existing litigation discovery rights. (Emphasis Added)

I love the “including, but not limited to” language. Why shouldn’t these documents be turned over? It would stop much of the gamesmanship and deceit that commonly occurs. Honest claims adjustment should be transparent–does anybody disagree?

I recently wrote on the noble work United Policyholders does on a very limited budget. Amy Bach’s suggestion that this law become a national standard is well founded. It would prevent some of the needless insurance coverage lawsuits because the insurer’s analysis would be truly transparent to the customer. I know of at least one major insurer, FM Global, that claims to have this good faith standard in place throughout the country.

For consumer interest attorneys attending the American Association of Justice Convention in San Francisco next week, Merlin Law Group, with a number of other policyholder law firms, is co-sponsoring a cocktail party to benefit United Policyholders. It will be held on Monday, July 27, in the private library at Bourbon & Branch, a 1920’s inspired San Francisco speakeasy located one block away from the AAJ convention hotel. It starts at 5:30 p.m.

Since the party is sponsored by a number of consumer interest law firms, including: Daley, DeBofsky & Bryant; Goldstein, Gellman, Melbostad, Gibson & Harris; and the Merlin Law Group, there is no cover charge and your first drink is on us. If you wish to support United Policyholders or add your firm as a sponsor of this FUNraising?? event, a minimum (tax deductible) contribution of $500 is required. Please contact Emily Cabral at (415) 393-9990 or emily@uphelp.org to sponsor, donate, or obtain an invitation.

The work of a handful of policyholder advocates such as Amy Bach help keep policyholder interests in front of state legislatures and Departments of Insurance despite an extraordinarily well funded opponent. I find it ironic that the major players in the insurance industry spend so much time and money trying to prevent passage of laws, such as the one above, which would ultimately protect them, as well as their consumers, from unscrupulous competitors. Maybe that says something about the claims culture of many insurers…and something they should think about when they reflect on business ethics and lobbying