Proposed House Bill 3094 Would Have Strict Restrictions To Insurance Adjustors In Oklahoma

Oklahoma lawmakers are proposing strict regulations on how some advocates can help people with insurance claims.

Bill author Representative Mark Tedford (R-Tulsa) amended who the bill affects after some people had concerns.

Now, one group says it feels the updated bill is targeting them.

Public Adjusters help people with insurance claims if the insured believes their carrier isn't providing adequate coverage.

Under the new legislation, adjusters could see a change in how much profit they can make when working on those claims.

If passed House Bill 3094 would set a cap of 10 percent commission based on the final approved insurance settlement.

The bill's author, Representative Mark Tedford, said it's to prevent public adjusters from what he calls "over-inflating" claims.

"Having the fees too high creates an incentive to inflate the claim and drive claims up cause they're, in order to justify themselves, they have to more payout on the claim to justify the fee that they're taking," Rep. Tedford said.

Tedford said the limit helps people who file a claim because it takes money away from repairs and gives it to an adjuster.

"States around us, Kansas limits public adjusting to 10 percent, Texas 10 percent, Arkansas doesn't allow for public adjusters at all.

NAPIA, the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters argues the limit will instead hurt their clients.

"I think it's trying to make sure that less public adjusters take work," said Alice Young with NAPIA.

Young said the bill is symbolic of how unfair insurance companies can be because the bill's author owns a private insurance company, Tedford Insurance.

Tedford said his bill wants to help consumers, not insurance companies.

The bill would also prevent a public adjuster from receiving any judgment awards if a claim goes to litigation.

"What other industry do you know where they could do that? Just completely eliminate the ability for someone to be paid for their work," Young said.

Tedford says he expects the bill to pass through the House's Insurance committee on Tuesday.