A proposal to alert consumers about their rights when getting their cars repaired after a collision will be tweaked a bit before it is considered by a legislative committee.

The Utah Legislature's Business and Labor Interim Committee on Wednesday took no action on the draft bill, which would require insurers and body shops to alert vehicle owners of their right to have repairs done at any shop.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Todd Kiser, R-Sandy, said he would discuss the draft with Gary Thorup, representing the Property and Casualty Insurance Association of America, and Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, in hopes of bringing the proposal to the committee again at a later meeting.

Thorup said he had not seen the draft. Oda said he has "a few ideas I've got that I'd like to work with them on."

Among the draft's provisions is a requirement that body shops and insurers post on repair-estimate documents the following language: "A dealer, body shop, towing service or insurance company may not require you to have your vehicle repaired at a specific body shop."

However, an insurer may recommend a body shop, provide a list of local body shops or local shops that meet or exceed industry standards for quality, service or safety.

Body shops also would have to have post applicable labor rates for vehicle repairs.

"The focus of this legislation talks about giving a consumer who has had their car wrecked the choice of being able to take their vehicle where they want it to be repaired," said Wayne Jones, representing the Independent Auto Dealers Association and a body shop coalition. "Many times, in many claim situations, an insurance company will say, 'We'll fix your car, but we'll need to have you to take it to the repair shop that we want you to take it to.' "

Jones said the bill is designed "to make sure that, number one, the consumer is protected and, two, we can continue to have commerce operate correctly in that we don't increase costs for insurance. There is great balance in this, and that's why we have committed that all the entities have been aware of this as we have gone along."

The proposal does not establish repair qualifications for body shops, "but that is one more step in this process that we want to do," Jones said.

Oda, whose background is in the claims business, said the bill has "great stuff here, and I think for most part it's headed in right direction, but I still have concerns about it.

"The subject has been talked about for the 31 1/2 years I've been in this business. What's here, I think a lot of the industry already practices a lot of that. . . . I just think that we could probably tweak this a little bit better."

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