The Washington House passed a right-to-appraisal bill with nearly full support Monday night. 

SB5721 gives policyholders the right to an appraisal to resolve disputes about the actual cash value and amount of loss on a damaged vehicle. It passed 96-1. 

Washington Senate passed a version of the bill in March, but it was amended earlier this month in the House Consumer Protection and Business Committee. The amendment strikes language that would’ve required the insurance companies to reimburse policyholders for the appraisal process if the loss determined through the process is $500 or more than what the insurance company adjusted. 

Rep. Strom Peterson (D-21) told the House that the No. 1 complaint received by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) revolves around the repair of vehicles. 

“If you get into a wreck, sometimes the insurance company thinks it’s going to cost one thing and the small company, the auto body shop, that you bring your car to thinks it’s going to cost something else,” Peterson said. “That delta between those two is what brings more complaints to OIC than any other issue. This bill is a small step to help rectify that. I think there’s more work to do and I look forward to working with all of the advocates to continue that work in the future, but this way we know that every auto insurance policy in Washington State, moving forward, will have important language to deal with just that problem.” 

Peterson introduced an amendment that would have added the reimbursement clause back into the bill, but it was not adopted. 

Rep. Stephanie McClintock (R-18) also spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor Monday 

“One of the initial concerns of mine and the committee was making sure that this bill did not drive insurance costs,” McClintock said. “Oregon did pass this in 2017 and they did not see their insurance rates go up there, so I was sold on this process. I thought this was a good idea after hearing from all sides and hearing that this is already taking place and it was working well for consumers.”

The bill will need to go back to the Senate with the amendment for approval before being sent to the governor. 

Justin Lewis, president of the Washington Independent Collision Repair Association (WICRA), previously told Repairer Driven News that the removal of the reimbursement clause was a compromise made with insurance companies lobbying against the original bill language. 

“Any win is a win when it comes to legislation,” Lewis said. “If we can get some victory, it is better than no victory.”

Collision repair and insurance industry constituents struck a similar agreement on mandatory right to appraisal in Texas at the end of March. During a Senate Committee on Business and Commerce hearing, five organizations and two business owners spoke in support of SB 458. The bill is one of two similar appraisal bills in Texas that have been proposed.

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Rep. Strom Peterson (D-21) speaks on the Washington House floor April 14/screenshot