Gov vetoes insurance competition bill

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Governor Lincoln Chafee has vetoed a bill that would have sent car insurance rates soaring in Rhode Island.

The legislation - which Call 12 for Action first reported on June 6 - called for setting standards for declaring a vehicle a total loss if the cost to repair the vehicle is less than 75 percent of the value of the vehicle; require an insurer to negotiate payment for auto body repairs in good faith; and allow private rights of action by auto body shops against insurance companies.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee said in a news release, “No other state in the nation allows auto body shops to set repair prices outside of the marketplace, determine whether a vehicle should be totaled without the input of the consumer and the insurance company, or to be an outside third party now authorized to effect an existing insurance policy between a consumer and an insurance company.”

• Read the Full Bill Here

“I believe this bill would hurt Rhode Island consumers by raising their auto insurance rates and impairing their existing contract agreements with their insurance companies,” said Gov. Chafee.

Gov. Chafee has asked for Speaker Gordon Fox and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed’s support following his veto of the bill.