(a) Regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to this article that relate to the settlement of claims shall take into consideration settlement practices by classes of insurers.
(b) (1) Upon receiving notice of a claim, every insurer shall immediately, but no more than 15 calendar days after receipt of the claim, provide the insured with a legible reproduction of subdivisions (h) and (i) of Section 790.03 along with a written notice containing the following language in at least 10-point type:
“In addition to Section 790.03 of the Insurance Code, Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations govern how insurance claims must be processed in this state. These regulations are available at the Department of Insurance Internet Web site, www.insurance.ca.gov, or by calling the department’s consumer information line at 1-800-927-HELP(4357). You may also obtain a copy of this law and these regulations free of charge from this insurer.”
(2) Every insurer shall provide, when requested orally or in writing by an insured, a legible reproduction of Section 790.03 of the Insurance Code and copies of Sections 2695.5, 2695.7, 2695.8, and 2695.9 of Subchapter 7.5 of Chapter 5 of Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations, unless the regulations are inapplicable to that class of insurer. This law and these regulations shall be provided to the insured within 15 calendar days of request.
(3) The provisions of this subdivision shall apply to all insurers except for those that are licensed pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 12340) of Part 6 of Division 2, with respect to policies and endorsements described in Section 790.031.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2017.
(Repealed (in Sec. 6) and added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 348, Sec. 7. (AB 1515) Effective January 1, 2016. Section operative January 1, 2017, by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018