Connecticut Bill Addresses Warranty Claims for OPE Dealers: Report
In Connecticut, retail dealers of power equipment inched closer to a legislative win when it comes to warranty claims.
Connecticut Senate Bill 264 – an Act Concerning Fair Reimbursement To Retail Dealers Of Power Equipment – passed the Senate in April. The bill guarantees fair reimbursement for retail dealers of power equipment and specifies when they should be paid a warranty claim.
Under the bill, when a small repair shop performs warranty work on behalf of a supplier/manufacturer, they must be paid their stated hourly rate. The seller would pay the supplier the current net price plus 18 percent for any parts that are needed to be fixed, on top of the hourly labor rate.
Businesses that perform repair work on behalf of the manufacturers would simply have to submit a claim back to the seller in order to receive the reimbursement within 30 days.
State senator James Maroney (D-Milford), chair of the General Law Committee led discussion and the passage of the bill in the Senate.
“I was proud to lead passage of this bill in the senate,” said Sen. Maroney. “This legislation will ensure that our quality local businesses are paid fairly for their repair work. I am happy to see an agreement made between both the equipment manufacturers and the dealer repair shops.”
The proposed bill currently resides in the state’s House of Representatives.
If passed, the act is scheduled to take effect January 2022; the full bill and its current status in the Connecticut General Assembly can be found here.
