April 19, 2018—The California Assembly Insurance Committee passed a labor rate survey bill that would require a specific template and cut direct repair program rates.
AB 2276 requirements include surveying a minimum of 30 auto body repair shops or 30 percent of auto body repair shops, whichever is greater. The insurer or auto body repair shop could negotiate a labor rate that is higher or lower than the prevailing auto body repair labor rate.
The new bill throws out the previous bill's provisions that could have insurers using large areas to define a market and reuse of old labor rates or comparing large shops to small shops.
