A Washington substitute bill that would have given the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) authority to order insurance companies to pay restitution to consumers for bad acts was voted down in the House Consumer Protection and Business Committee. 

The original bill, SB5331, was supported by the OIC and would have also given the insurance commissioner the authority to fine home and auto insurance companies up to $10,000 for each violation. 

A committee-approved substitute bill would have created a cap on total fines for the OIC at $100,000. 

“The Senate passed a strong consumer protection bill,” said Commissioner Patty Kuderer, in a press release. “Unfortunately, an anti-consumer amendment to cap total fines caused members who would have otherwise supported the bill to vote against it.”

Rep. Liz Berry (D-36) told the House Committee Wednesday that she did not support the amendment. 

“What this means is that no matter how egregious or how awful the harm, the max you can be fined under this amendment is $100,000,” Berry said. “You could cause millions of dollars of damage to a hundred consumers,  and instead of paying $10,000 per violation,  which would be a fine of $1 million your fine total is capped at $100,000.” 

A fine cap is not a deterrent for bad behavior, Berry said. 

“I’m afraid that because of this, bad actors are going to start factoring this into the cost of doing business, which unfortunately is just budget dust for some very, very large companies,” she said. 

Rep. Chris Corry (R-15) supported the amendments but opposed the bill because he felt it was still imbalanced. He said the state already has a very clear and detailed process that the OIC uses to protect consumers from insurance issues. 

Kuderer has testified on multiple occasions in the House and Senate about the bill saying the OIC currently lacks any option to order restitution to consumers. The OIC can fine insurance companies but those fines go to the state’s General Fund. 

She recently testified that she is not in support of the amendments that were only proposed at the time. 

“That part of the bill is designed to create uniformity in how we levy fines at the OIC,” Kuderer said. “P&C insurers in 37 other states are fined on a per violation basis, so Washington State is an outlier. I understand the P&C insurers are concerned about excessive fines and want an aggregated cap. For excessive fines, there’s already four separate levels of judicial review to guard against abuse of discretion. And in terms of the aggregate fine, it’s bad for consumers and good for bad actors.” 

The bill passed the Senate in early March and was passed to the House committee, which previously heard testimony from Kuderer on companion bill HB199. The companion bill was not moved out of the committee by its deadline, essentially killing the bill. 

“Putting a cap on total fines is unfair to consumers and protects bad actors,” Kuderer said in a release. “Fines are intended to deter future illegal conduct, and caps undermine that intent because then it can be cheaper to pay the fine than to follow the law. So, while I am disappointed the Committee did not pass a strong consumer protection bill, I am glad the bill as amended did not advance this session.”

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Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer speaks before the House Consumer Protection & Business Committee on March 19, 2025/Screenshot