Section 2071.1 Of Article 3. California Standard Form Fire Insurance Policy From California Insurance Code >> Division 2. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 3.
2071.1
. (a) This section applies to an examination of an insured
under oath pursuant to Section 2071 labeled "Requirements in case
loss occurs" and other relevant provisions of that section, and to
any policy that insures property and contains a provision for
examining an insured under oath, when the policy is originated or
renewed on and after January 1, 2002.
The following are among the rights of each insured who is
requested to submit to an examination under oath:
(1) An insurer that determines that it will conduct an examination
under oath of an insured shall notify the insured of that
determination and shall include a copy of this section in the
notification.
(2) An insurer may conduct an examination under oath only to
obtain information that is relevant and reasonably necessary to
process or investigate the claim.
(3) An examination under oath may only be conducted upon
reasonable notice, at a reasonably convenient place and for a
reasonable length of time.
(4) The insured may be represented by counsel and may record the
examination proceedings in their entirety.
(5) The insurer shall notify the insured that, upon request and
free of charge, it will provide the insured with a copy of the
transcript of the proceedings and an audio or video recording of the
proceedings, if one exists. Where an insured requests a copy of the
transcript, the recording, or both, of the examination under oath,
the insurer shall provide it within 10 business days of receipt by
the insurer or its counsel of the transcript, the recording, or both.
An insured may make sworn corrections to the transcript so it
accurately reflects the testimony under oath.
(6) In an examination under oath, an insured may assert any
objection that can be made in a deposition under state or federal
law. However, if as a result of asserting an objection, an insured
fails to provide an answer to a material question, and that failure
prevents the insurer from being able to determine the extent of loss
and validity of the claim, the rights of the insured under the
contract may be affected.
(7) An insured who submits a fraudulent claim may be subject to
all criminal and civil penalties applicable under law.
(b) The department shall conduct a study quantifying the number of
examinations under oath performed by carriers regulated by the
department and the number of contacts made by consumers regarding
alleged concerns with the utilization of the examination under oath
process for the resolution of pending claims. The department shall
report both the number of examinations under oath performed by each
carrier and the number of justified and unjustified claims alleged by
insureds as defined in this code. To the best extent practicable,
the department shall also determine if any of these complaints also
resulted in suspected fraudulent claims with the department's fraud
division.
(c) The department shall also survey licensed carriers as to the
number of suspected fraudulent claims under residential property
insurance policies that are submitted to the department's fraud
division as required by law, and that resulted, or eventually
resulted, in the utilization of the examination under oath process.
Policies of residential property insurance shall be as defined in
Section 10087.
(d) The department shall submit the findings of this report to the
chairpersons of the Assembly and Senate Committees on Insurance no
later than March 1, 2003.