April 10, 2018—House Bill 1663 cleared the second half of the New Hampshire General Court on Thursday. The bill defines the fair price required to be reimbursed to a shop by an insurer for mechanical work to “not be lower than that customarily paid to a repair shop or facility in the area that is part of or affiliated with an automobile dealership.”
The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee voted 18-1 in favor of an amendment to rewrite the bill to create the new four-lawmaker labor rate study group.
The four lawmakers must “study reimbursement rates for independent repair shops under New Hampshire automobile insurance policies” and by Nov. 1 “report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation.”
Rep. Dennis Green, R-Hampstead, said that insurers would rather sublet the work to a dealership for $80-$90 an hour, rather than pay the body shop an identical $80-$90 to do the work.
The original bill was prompted by Green and Lori Nadeau of Birch Street Collision.
