Miscellaneous

NCOIL Gears Up for Imitation Parts Model Law. . . Again (sigh)

By E L Eversman

Once again, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) is trying to convince the U.S. that we should have a model “aftermarket” parts act to sanction the use of imitation parts, even if they really are junk. Which means those of us concerned about whether consumers are entitled to have their insurers pay for safe, decent repairs will be heading to Austin, Texas the weekend before Thanksgiving.

The silly thing is that most of the bill is about regulating collision repairers, not insurers. Which leads us all to ask, why is an organization of insurance legislators so focused on passing a model act that endorses the use of imitation parts and regulates how collision repairers will deal with the consumer and those parts? Why isn’t it focusing on making insurers crash test these parts and endorse their safety by accepting full and complete liability for their use in consumers’ vehicle repairs?

I could handle this in one easy sentence — let’s try this: “If an insurer pays for the cost of installing an imitation part in the repair of a collision-damaged vehicle, the insurer is solely responsible for all liability, malfunction, or negative consequences arising from the use of the part, and no action may be brought against a repairer for having installed such part.”

There. Was that really so hard? Now, can NCOIL get back to regulating insurers?

Click here for NCOIL’s proposed model act

Full post as published by AutoMuse on October 25, 2010 (boomark / email).