TDCI: New Consumer Protection Laws Help Tennesseans

NASHVILLE — Tennessee consumers have enhanced consumer protections such as requirements that emergency call takers have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training as well as stronger laws prohibiting traffic citation quotas and falsifying insurance documents as part of new legislation enacted earlier this year by the Tennessee General Assembly.

“I commend the Governor and the members of the General Assembly for remaining committed to serving Tennesseans now and in the future and for passing these and other bills intended to do just that,” said Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) Commissioner Hodgen Mainda. “Our team strives to balance responsible regulation and consumer protection with supporting a stable and active free market. I urge any resident who feels as if he or she has been unfairly denied an insurance claim or who has witnessed unlicensed activity by one of our licensees to file a complaint with our team today.”

The new protections impact various TDCI divisions including:

Tennessee Emergency Communications Board

Public Chapter No. 575: Requires all emergency call takers (Emergency 911) and dispatchers to receive CPR training and offer it when necessary to callers or bystanders.

POST (Peace Officers Standards Training)/TLETA (Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy)

Public Chapter No. 801: Revises current state law to prohibit public officials or public employees from creating traffic citation quotas.

Division of Insurance

Public Chapter No. 608: Prohibits the misrepresentation of a certificate of property or casualty insurance with misleading information. Authorizes the Department to take action against a person intentionally violating this section by issuing an order that requires a person to cease and desist from continuing the prohibited practices and by accessing a civil penalty of not more than $1,000.

Fire Prevention/State Fire Marshal’s Office

Public Chapter No. 754: Expands compensation benefits to firefighters employed after July 1, 2019. To learn more about TDCI’s mission, vision and values, visit our website today.

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