Business law & liability:
Bill tilting balance to plaintiffs dies

(June 26, 2007) A proposal that would have unfairly benefited plaintiffs while harming defendants in automobile liability claims died this session.

Originally HB-7063 required the disclosure of liability insurance policy limits prior to the filing of a claim for any cause of action. Although the bill was amended to apply only to automobile claims, it was still bad public policy that would have set a troublesome precedent favoring plaintiffs over defendants in liability disputes.
Two other measures of concern to the business community were amended and approved.

HB-6897 applies to written consumer contracts with liquidated-damage clauses. These contracts will only be enforced if they contain the statement “I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS CONTRACT CONTAINS A LIQUIDATED DAMAGES PROVISION” and the person against whom the liquidated damage provision will be enforced has signed or initialed the clause.

Consumer contracts with state government agencies or a political subdivision of the state or federal government, and certain other contracts, will not be subject to these requirements.

HB-7204 applies to contracts for refuse removal or disposal with automatic contract renewal provisions. These contracts will not be enforceable unless they contain the conspicuous statement “I acknowledge that this contract contains an AUTOMATIC RENEWAL provision,” and the person against whom the automatic contract renewal provision will be enforced has signed or initialed that clause. The provisions of this section do not apply to automatic contract renewal contracts with the renewal period of 31 days or less.

Another section of HB-7204 applies to consumer contracts. Consumer contracts for more than 180 days with a provision for automatic renewal of the contract for a period of more than 31 days must provide the recipient of products or services with a clear and conspicuous written notice that the recipient may cancel the contract. The notice must be given at least 15 days but not more than 60 days prior to the date the contract will be renewed, or the expiration of the time period for cancellation by the recipient. Certain other conditions apply.

Contact CBIA’s Kevin Hennessy at 860-244-1979 or hennessk@cbia.com if you have any questions regarding these or any other business law and liability issues.

CBIA Action Center

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