California Motor Vehicle Glass Act.

Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including automobile insurance. Existing law requires an insurer that issues a policy providing automobile collision coverage, or automobile physical damage coverage, to pay to the repairer or to the named insured and the repairer, jointly, for repairs in a specified manner if a covered automobile is damaged by collision or otherwise and the insurer knows that the automobile will be repaired. Existing law prohibits an insurer from withholding the payment of reasonable repair cost benefits that are otherwise payable under the policy if the insured decides not to have the vehicle repaired. Existing law states that these provisions do not prohibit an insurer from restricting payment in cases of suspected fraud or from including a named loss payee or lienholder as an additional payee on the claims payment check or draft, as described. Existing law states that these provisions do not prohibit an insurer from requiring that a damaged vehicle be repaired as a condition for payment if the damage to the vehicle is sufficiently serious that safety features that are part of the vehicle's operating systems are compromised.

This bill, the California Motor Vehicle Glass Act, would prohibit an insured under a motor vehicle insurance policy that covers windshield and calibration repair or replacement from, either before or after a claimed or covered loss, assigning, delegating, or otherwise transferring, in whole or in part, to any other person the insured's duties under the policy or rights or benefits under the policy, and would make a contract entered into, on and after January 1, 2027, under these circumstances void and unenforceable. The bill would require a motor vehicle glass repair shop (repair shop), before providing service to a person for a repair or replacement of damaged motor vehicle glass, to notify the person, among other things, whether the motor vehicle has an advanced driver assistance system, and if it does, whether calibration or recalibration of the motor vehicle's advanced driver assistance system is needed after a windshield repair or replacement as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. The bill would require the repair shop to provide written notice to the person whether the calibration or recalibration was successful or not successful, as specified, and would require the repair shop to provide an itemized invoice and receipt upon completion of a repair or replacement of damaged motor vehicle glass.

This bill would prohibit a repair shop from contracting with a person for repair or replacement of damaged motor vehicle glass that would be paid by a first-party insurance policy until specified conditions are met, including, among others, that the person has made a first-party claim for the repair or replacement of damaged motor vehicle glass under a motor vehicle insurance policy and that the repair shop has received a claim or referral number for the claim. The bill would require a repair shop to, among other things, provide the person a good faith estimate of the fees and costs that are anticipated to be charged to the person by the repair shop for the repair or replacement of damaged motor vehicle glass.

This bill would prohibit a repair shop, or any other person who is compensated for the solicitation of insurance claims, from offering a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, fee, prize, bonus, payment, incentive, inducement, or any other thing of value to any insured, insurance producer, or other person in exchange for directing or making a claim under a motor vehicle insurance policy for a repair or replacement of damaged motor vehicle glass. The bill would also prohibit a repair shop from, among other things, submitting false, misleading, or incomplete documentation or information to an insured or an insured's insurer, including any agent of the insured or insurer, for a repair or replacement of damaged motor vehicle glass or state that a repair or replacement of damaged motor vehicle glass will be paid for entirely by an insurer and at no cost to the insured unless the coverage has been verified by the insurer or the insurer's agent.

This bill would state that these provisions do not prohibit an insurer, insurance producer, insurance adjuster, or any person acting on behalf of an insurer, insurance producer, or insurance adjuster from recommending a repair shop or providing an explanation to an insured of the coverage available, and any applicable liability limit, under any insurance policy. The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for the first violation and not to exceed $2,000 for each subsequent violation.