Kentucky Introduces Florida-Style Auto Glass Bill Targeting Assignment of Benefits

The auto glass legislative wave that swept Florida in 2023 made its first 2024 appearance in Kentucky, where Senator Brandon Storm introduced Senate Bill 29 on January 2. The bill drew immediate comparisons to Florida's assignment-of-benefits reforms—and set the stage for what would become a recurring theme throughout the year as multiple states reconsidered their glass-claim rules.

S.B. 29 as introduced would prohibit the assignment of insurance benefits for auto glass repair and replacement claims, directly targeting the mechanism that had fueled litigation-intensive business models in several states. Like its Florida predecessor, the bill would also bar shops from offering anything of value—rebates, gift cards, cash, or similar incentives—to solicit glass insurance claims.

The bill included consumer information requirements, mandating that shops provide certain disclosures about auto glass repair or replacement services, including information about ADAS recalibration when it is required. The explicit inclusion of ADAS calibration in the bill's definitions reflected an industry-wide recognition that modern windshield work extends beyond glass alone.

One notable departure from the Florida model: Kentucky's bill would maintain the state's zero-deductible rule for auto glass repair and replacement. Under the proposed legislation, policyholders would retain the right to claim a glass repair or replacement without paying a deductible, a consumer protection that Kentucky legislators were unwilling to eliminate. The bill also expressly preserved the insured's right to choose their own glass service provider while permitting insurers to maintain preferred-shop networks.

For Kentucky glass shops monitoring the bill, the legislative session played out over subsequent months. Governor Andy Beshear signed the bill into law on April 2, making Kentucky one of the early 2024 legislative completions in the auto glass reform wave. That signing, and the involvement of the National Insurance Crime Bureau in shaping the legislation, offered a template other states were watching closely.

Kentucky's S.B. 29 represented an early signal of how quickly state-level glass-claims legislation was spreading beyond Florida. Shop operators in states without similar laws should monitor their legislatures, because the AOB-restriction model has proven broadly adoptable.