HB 1225: Homeowner’s Insurance Reform Act of 2013 Gets New Life

Having failed to garner enough support even to be amended and pass out of the House Committee on Business, Labor, Economic, & Workforce Development, the Homeowner’s Insurance Reform Act of 2013 was thought to have been effectively laid to rest for this session.  However, HB 1225, which was in response to the difficulties of owners who lost their homes due to wild fires in 2012, was given new life when it passed out of committee on March 12, 2013, and was placed on the calendar to be debated March 15, 2013 by the entire House.

HB 1225 is geared at making insurance policies easier to read, as they must be written at no more than a 10th grade reading level. Among other things, the bill will require insurers to:

• include at least one year of additional living expense coverage to homeowners;
• offer extended replacement coverage and law and ordinance coverage including an explanation of the terms of this coverage; and
• no less than every 2 years, update the policy holder on the estimate of replacement costs based on a construction inflation index. 

We will keep you updated to see if this bill can sustain its momentum.