PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, no company which serves as a third-party biller for a particular insurance company, whether a carrier or an agency, may additionally provide auto glass replacement and/or repair services for such insurance company, whether under its own business entity or whether under any other business entity that it is related to, by either stock ownership, license agreement, franchise agreement, or such ownership by any direct family relative. A third-party biller shall be defined as any person or company who processes, pays or monitors the payment of auto glass claims on behalf of an insurance carrier or insurance agency.

SECTION 2. All third-party billers of auto glass claims, or any other party that answers telephone calls from telephone numbers advertised or prescribed by insurance carriers or agents for the purpose of reporting auto glass claims by policyholders or glass companies, must disclose, either by recorded message or live voice from a script at the outset of each telephonic interaction, that the person is not a direct employee of the insurance carrier or insurance agent, and that such third-party biller company is not a subsidiary or division of the insurance carrier or insurance agent.

SECTION 3. All third-party billers of auto glass claims must ask in clear language if the policyholder or caller would like to use a particular auto glass company. Such question must be asked before the name of any auto glass service provider company shall be mentioned. If the policyholder or caller mentions the name of any auto glass service company, such mention shall constitute “customer choice,” and the name of no other auto glass service company shall be introduced by the person or automated voice during the entirety of the telephonic interaction. In the course of, or following a policyholder’s call to report an insurance claim for auto glass loss or damage, no third-party biller may authorize any employee or independent contractor to forward any information gathered during such call, including but not limited to the name of the policyholder, the address of the policyholder, the year, make and model of the policyholder’s vehicle, and the location of said vehicle, to any glass company other than the glass services company with which the claim fulfillment has been agreed to and scheduled with, between the policyholder and the third-party biller. Such methods for forwarding policyholder information shall include, but not be limited to, telephonic links, direct telephone calls, transmission by facsimile, transmission by electronic mail, or any other method.

SECTION 4. Privacy of Proprietary Customer Information.

No third-party biller and/or auto insurance carrier shall forward to any policyholder any letter or notification that said policyholder’s claim for auto glass loss or damage was settled for a price that exceeded the expressed or inferred price, by any auto glass service company, unless such price, in fact, did exceed said expressed or inferred price in effect at the time of such claim settlement. Further, no auto glass service company shall receive and/or utilize any information gathered by a third-party biller, in the administration of its responsibilities to issue verification of auto glass loss or damage claims, for its use in any marketing efforts, to discredit and/or disparage any trade practices of any other auto glass service company, expressed or implied, and enter into its database any vital information of any claimant for any future use.

SECTION 5. No employee or independent contractor of any third-party biller of auto glass claims, insurance carrier, and/or insurance agency shall offer any information regarding the quality of workmanship, warranties and/or guarantees, or any possibility of additional costs to the insured during any telephonic interaction, unless the employee or independent contractor holds a permanent license as an insurance adjuster or auto damage appraiser in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that such license is in full force at the time of the telephonic interaction. In the event that such employee or independent contractor holds a permanent license as an insurance adjuster or auto damage appraiser in the commonwealth, and duly discloses the license number to the caller, the information concerning the workmanship, warranties and/or guarantees, or the possibility of additional costs to the insured by any specific auto glass service provider must be based on verifiable facts, duly noted, held in electronic information systems, and accountable for substantiation to the person holding such license.

SECTION 6. Each violation of Section 1 shall result in a fine of $1,000.00, to be paid by the insurance carrier or insurance agency that utilizes the services of a third-party biller. Each glass claim completed in contradiction with the letter and/or intent of Section 1 shall constitute one violation. Allegations of violations shall be reported to the Office of the Attorney General who shall have the authority to levy such fine(s).

SECTION 7. Each violation of Section 2, Section 3, and/or Section 5 shall result in a fine of $300.00, to be paid by the third-party biller or other offending party. Allegations of violations shall be reported to the Office of the Attorney General who shall have the authority to levy such fine(s).

SECTION 8. Each violation of Section 4 shall result in a fine of not less than $500.00, to be paid by both the third-party biller and the glass services company, or any other offending party. Each claimant for whom this Section 4 is violated, shall constitute one violation. Allegations of violations shall be reported to the Office of the Attorney General who shall have the authority to levy such fine(s).