2025 Legislative Roundup
by Seth Maiman
As we approach 2025’s halfway point, much of the year’s auto glass legislation is already complete. Many state legislative sessions began in January and ended as soon as three months later.
While some of this year’s legislative proposals have already become law, others were defeated. A few are still pending. The auto glass bills that AGSC has been involved in do one of three things:
- Ban the Assignment of Benefits (AOB), gifts or rebates to consumers. These bills also include calibration provisions designed to protect the consumer.
- Prohibit insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs) from “steering.”
- Create state auto glass replacement safety standards.
AOB Legislation
Florida has led the way with AOB bans. The state enacted comprehensive legislation in 2023 prohibiting consumers from assigning benefits to auto glass shops or shops giving consumers gifts, rebates or “anything of value” in exchange for those claims. The legislature reacted to the high number of auto glass legal actions filed each year in state courts thanks to the solicitation of auto glass claims in a zero-deductible state.
The Florida law included similar calibration provisions to those previously passed in Utah, Arizona and Maryland. Georgia followed suit and passed similar AOB legislation in 2024.
Iowa enacted an AOB ban in May that will become law on July 1, 2025.
New York was on the verge of doing the same when this column was written. Both New York legislative houses passed bills in June, and the legislation is being finalized before being sent to the governor.
Recent National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) action fueled this flurry of AOB legislation.
NCOIL used the Florida/Georgia bill as the basis for its “Motor Vehicle Glass Model Act” early in 2025. A legislator from Kentucky sponsored the model bill, and NCOIL’s association president is a New York assemblywoman.
One provision in the NCOIL model law and the recently passed laws in Iowa and New York is raising both eyebrows and questions in the auto glass community.
In the section titled Motor Vehicle Glass Repair Claims and Practices, a motor vehicle glass repair shop is prohibited from contracting with a person for repair or replacement work to be paid under a first-party insurance policy until the glass shop has received a claim or referral number for the claim.
Some in the industry are concerned that a legal provision requiring a claim or referral number is impractical, unnecessary, and not in the best interest of the insured. The provision, if applied literally, could put some shops at a competitive disadvantage based on business relationships with third-party administrators (TPAs) and insurance companies.
Anti-Steering Legislation
Legislation curbing steering by insurance companies, appraisers and TPAs passed the Arkansas Senate in April but then died in the Arkansas House. The bill would have prohibited an insured from being required to use certain facilities to repair or replace damaged safety glass. It would have prevented an insurer or their agents, adjusters and TPA from telling a consumer that choosing a glass facility other than their own “may result in delays in or a lack of guarantee” for the motor vehicle safety work.
When first contacting a policyholder, insurers and TPAs would have had to say, “You have a right to choose a glass shop where the damage to your motor vehicle will be repaired. If you have a preference, please let us know.” Insurance companies and TPAs wouldn’t have been allowed to provide a name or schedule an appointment with a shop owned by an insurer, TPA or their parent company unless they also provided the insured with the name of at least one other glass shop in the area.
Lawmakers introduced similar legislation in Mississippi, but it did not pass out of committee.
State Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standards
For a third consecutive session, lawmakers introduced legislation that would lead to the adoption of a state standard for auto glass replacement. The bill will require the state Registrar of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations that “meet or exceed” the AGSC/ANSI Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standard™ (AGRSS).
The Massachusetts bill, supported by AGSC, is similar to a 2021 Maryland law that created state auto glass replacement safety standards. Maryland has since amended its law to conform to AGSC/ANSI AGRSS changes.
Seth Maiman is the director of public affairs for the Auto Glass Safety Council.
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