Conn. Agencies Regs. § 38a-10-3 - Arbitration procedure
(a) If mediation by
the Insurance Department Division of Consumer Affairs fails to resolve a
dispute between a claimant and an insurance company, the Insurance Department
examiner who examined the complaint shall refer the file to the Arbitration
Unit of the Insurance Department to begin the arbitration procedure.
(b) The Arbitration Unit shall notify the
claimant by a form prepared by the Insurance Department that the claim is
arbitrable which shall be sent within five (5) business days from date of
referral. The form which shall include a request for arbitration shall be
returned to the Arbitration Unit of the Insurance Department within fourteen
(14) calendar days together with a non-refundable check for the $20.00 filing
fee made payable to the Treasurer, State of Connecticut. The claimant shall
indicate whether the arbitration will be by submission of documents or by oral
hearing.
(c) Failure of the
claimant to return the request for arbitration form within fourteen (14)
calendar days shall automatically cancel the proceedings. The claimant, with
prior written approval of the Insurance Department Arbitration Unit, may be
granted a reasonable delay in filing for arbitration.
(d) Upon receipt of the request for
arbitration form, the Arbitration Unit shall submit the written notice of
arbitration to the insurer, advising whether the arbitration will be conducted
by submission of documents or by oral hearing. The insurer shall return a
non-refundable check for $20.00 made payable to the Treasurer, State of
Connecticut and a copy of its file within fourteen (14) calendar days. The
insurer must pay the claimant the undisputed amount within five (5) business
days of the receipt of the notice of arbitration.
(e) Failure of the insurance company or its
designated adjusting company to respond within fourteen (14) calendar days of
the mailing of the notice shall allow the arbitrator to enter an award in favor
of the claimant for all or part of the disputed damages and a check shall be
issued for all or part of the disputed amount by the insurer within ten (10)
business days of the date of the award.
(f) The Arbitration Unit shall:
(A) notify the arbitrator in writing of the
date, time and location of the hearing within ten (10) business days from the
receipt of the insurer's response or upon the expiration of the fourteen (14)
days specified in subsection (e) of this section, whichever is earlier; and
(B) notify the claimant and the
insurer in writing of the arbitrator's name, the date, time and location of the
hearing at least ten (10) business days prior to the hearing. If upon such
notice either party has a reasonable objection to the selected arbitrator then
that party must notify the Arbitration Unit of its objection within three (3)
business days prior to the hearing date. The hearing will be rescheduled with
another arbitrator selected in rotation from the panel of
arbitrators.
(g) Within
fifteen (15) days following the hearing the arbitrator shall issue a written
decision based on the information gathered and disclosing the findings and the
reasons for the findings to the parties involved.
(h) The arbitrator may request the Insurance
Commissioner to issue subpoenas on behalf of the arbitrator to compel the
attendance of witnesses and the production of documents, papers and records
relevant to the dispute. When the arbitrator believes technical assistance is
necessary to decide a case, he may consult with an independent expert
recommended by the Insurance Commissioner.
(i) Decisions favoring the complainant, which
may include loss of use and storage, shall be paid within ten (10) business
days of the receipt of the decision and shall include interest on the
arbitration award at a rate of ten percent (10%) computed by dividing the
number 365 into ten percent (10%) multiplied by the number of days between the
date of payment for the undisputed amount of the claim and the date of issuance
of the award.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.