A bill that passed the Virginia General Assembly with broad bipartisan support in the House and passed the Senate 33–7 would require auto insurers to document and disclose certain reductions made to a field adjuster's repair estimate. It’s a change that would affect how disputed collision repair claims are handled across the state.
House Bill 808, introduced Jan. 14, by Del. Dan Helmer (D-Va.), would amend Section 38.2-510 of the Code of Virginia, the state's existing unfair claim settlement practices statute.
According to the LegiScan bill summary, when an insurer reduces an adjuster's estimate by $3,000 or more, it must provide the policyholder with a detailed explanation as to why any change that has the effect of reducing the loss estimate was made. It must also include in the report or as an addendum a detailed list of all changes made and the identity of the person who made or ordered each such change, and retain all versions of the report including within each version the identity of the person who made or ordered each change.
Under Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, the governor has 30 days from the date of adjournment of the regular session to act on enrolled legislation,
Section 38.2-510 already contains provisions relevant to motor vehicle appraisals. Subdivision 17 requires that appraisals generally be based on a personal inspection by a representative of the insurer or repair facility, but allows initial or final estimates to be prepared using photographs, videos, or electronically transmitted digital imagery. The statute also provides that an insurer may not require a vehicle owner to submit such images as a condition of receiving an appraisal.
Those are current Virginia law. HB 808 would add the estimate-reduction disclosure and documentation requirements on top of what already exists.
What Virginia Shops Can Do
Collision shops may also want to maintain their own records of every estimate version. While the enrolled bill requires insurers to retain all versions of any altered report, shops that keep their own copies of original and revised estimates have an independent paper trail for supplement negotiations and dispute resolution, particularly on repairs where insurer reductions meet or exceed $3,000.
For reductions that fall below the $3,000 threshold, no statutory explanation is required, but Virginia shops can still request one in writing.
To track the bill’s final disposition, the Virginia General Assembly website and LegiScan are the primary resources for confirming any governor action. The governor's deadline is April 13.
