Sponsored by Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, the bill, SB 2, bars insurers from requiring policyholders to itemize personal property. Additionally, it requires insurers to provide policyholders with a copy of their loss history report

"The author is trying help people recover after a disaster, but in reality this bill goes against the fundamentals of how insurance works and will drive up costs for everyone," said Janine Gibford, AIA assistant vice president for the western region. "Responsible policyholders maintain home inventories to determine what could be lost and potentially need to be replaced under their policy."

She noted that the bill mandates insurers pay "up to 85 percent of contents coverage, regardless of whether the homeowner had that much property."

If the bill is enacted into law, Ms. Gibford noted, it could lead to the padding of claims by homeowners, which would drive up costs for all policyholders.

"Insurance is intended to indemnify for actual losses," Ms. Gibford said. "The inventory is a tool to account for and replace damaged personal property. If insurers are required to automatically pay a pre-specified limit, regardless of what is lost, the cost of insurance will go up for everyone, and it is simply unfair to responsible consumers."

Providing policyholders with a copy of their loss history report will also drive up costs, Ms. Gibford said, adding that policyholders also already have access to that information.

"Insurers already provide the policyholder with a 'notice of a claim' when a loss is filed with the insurance company," she said. "Policyholders have the right to obtain a copy of their loss history report under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Additional notices will be duplicative and costly."

The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 23 to 14, and it will now move to the House. The AIA will continue to oppose the bill, according to Ms. Gibford, but is also open to negotiations.

"The author has tried to improve the bill, but unfortunately we continue to disagree on a few key provisions in the measure," She said. "We will continue to try to find middle ground on SB 2 as it moves through the legislative process."