HB 5522 Summary

• Property or casualty insurers must pay reasonable attorney fees to attorneys representing insureds in successful first-party actions to recover overdue insurance benefits, with fees charged in addition to benefits recovered and other available remedies.

• Insureds receive the greater of $10,000 or 3 times the amount of withheld benefits if the insurer's failure to timely pay involved misconduct such as misrepresenting facts, failing to acknowledge claims promptly, refusing to pay without reasonable investigation, or delaying investigation through duplicative documentation requirements.

• Determines whether an insurer violated the misconduct provisions is a question of fact rather than law.

• Applies to automobile insurers, home insurers, commercial property insurers, and workers' compensation insurers.

• Bill does not take effect unless seven companion bills (HB 5518, HB 5519, HB 5520, HB 5521, HB 5523, and HB 5525) are also enacted into law.