SACRAMENTO, CA, June 30, 2016 -- An E-Commerce bill, co-sponsored by IIABCal, passed the California Senate Judiciary Committee this week by an unanimous vote. 

The bill, AB 2591 by Assemblyman Matt Dababneh, expands upon existing law to further authorize insurers selling automobile and property-casualty policies to provide electronic notices of cancellation, nonrenewal, offers of renewal, and other communications to consumers if the policyholder so chooses. 

"While the unanimous vote would seemingly indicate a painless committee process, the Senate Judiciary Committee (the consumer attorney’s stomping ground) began demanding amendments prior to the hearing,” IIABCal Lobbyist Erin Norwood said.  “Specifically, the committee proposed re-instating the sunset clause that was stricken in the Assembly Insurance Committee, as well as re-drafting the section of the bill that imposed a heightened standard for sensitive insurance documents. 

“Given the bill was in its fourth policy committee, the coalition of sponsors stated that re-drafting the provisions relative to sensitive documents was a non-starter,” she said.  “However, in order to pacify the committee and advance the bill, the coalition did agree to an amendment to re-instate the 2021 sunset clause.”

According to Norwood, the January 1, 2021 sunset will apply to the sensitive documents such as cancellation but will not apply to the routine, less sensitive documents that may be transmitted electronically, including life insurance, property-casualty, and automobile insurance-related documents.     

At the hearing all co-sponsors—IIABCal, Personal Insurance Federation of CA, Pacific Association of Domestic Insurance Companies, American Insurance Association and the Association of California Insurance Companies—testified in support of the measure.  The Consumer Attorneys of California testified in opposition, while the California Department of Insurance raised concerns. 

As amended, AB 2591 will now head to the Senate Floor for consideration.