HOUSE BILL REPORT

                 SHB 1907

                  As Amended by the Senate

Title:  An act relating to estimating charges for carrying household goods.

Brief Description:  Penalizing carriers that exceed estimates for moving household goods.

Sponsors:  By House Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Representatives Wineberry, Jones and Lemmon.)

Brief History:

  Reported by House Committee on:

Transportation, February 25, 1993, DPS;

  Passed House, March 10, 1993, 98-0;

  Amended by Senate.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  Signed by 25 members:  Representatives R. Fisher, Chair; Brown, Vice Chair; Jones, Vice Chair; Schmidt, Ranking Minority Member; Mielke, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Brough; Brumsickle; Cothern; Finkbeiner; Forner; Fuhrman; Hansen; Horn; Johanson; J. Kohl; R. Meyers; Miller; H. Myers; Orr; Patterson; Quall; Sheldon; Shin; Wood; and Zellinsky.

Staff:  Mary McLaughlin (786-7309).

Background:  Household goods carriers, moving and storage companies, are regulated by the Utilities and Transportation Commission.  By WAC rule, when the actual charges exceed the estimate given by a household goods carrier, the moving company is subject to an administrative penalty of $100/violation if:

(1) For a long distance move, the actual charge exceeds the estimate by 15 percent; or

(2) For a local move, (a) the actual charge for the time required to complete the move exceeds the estimate by 25 percent, or (b) the actual charges for other services not directly related to the time charge exceed the estimate for these services by 15 percent.

Because the penalty for underestimating the actual charges is only $100, some carriers are deliberately submitting a low bid to get the business and then billing the customer for the actual charges.  The customer may retrieve his/her possessions by paying 110 percent of the estimate, and settling the difference later.

Summary of Bill:  The monetary penalty the Utilities and Transportation Commission may impose on a household goods carrier who underestimates the actual moving charges is increased from $100/violation to up to $1,000/violation when the actual charges exceed the percentages allowed by the commission.  A customer is only obligated to pay the estimated cost of the move if the actual bill exceeds the estimate by the percentages allowed by the commission.

EFFECT OF SENATE AMENDMENT(S): The provision that the customer is only required to pay the written estimate when the actual charges for the move exceed the percentages allowed by the commission is removed.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  The charge will enhance consumer protection by deterring the practice of intentionally underestimating a bid in order to get the business.

Testimony Against:  None.

Witnesses:  (Pro): Don Lewis, Utilities and Transportation Commission; Larry Pursley, Washington Trucking Conference; Scott Creek, Washington Movers Conference; Gerald Larson, Washington Movers Conference; and Lee Hochberg, consumer.

VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE:

Yeas 98