By Madison Coker

KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA – An attorney for Kansas insurance agencies says a bill in the Kansas House of Representatives Insurance Committee would cause major issues for licensed insurers.

Will Larson, attorney for the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents, asked the committee on Tuesday to vote against the bill that would allow self-storage unit companies to sell their own insurance.

“[Insurance agents] do not oppose storage facilities selling this insurance,” Larson said. “What they do oppose is the people that will be selling it will not be licensed.”

SB14 provides for limited-license insurance coverage of self-storage units. This means self-storage companies could provide insurance for the contents inside people’s units.

Self Storage Association Representative Whitney Damron said the potential law includes specific regulations in place to protect insurers. He said the first regulation is that the policy is limited to $5,000 per unit. In addition, the companies would be required to post a sign and tell costumers to check with their own insurance agencies to make sure they are not already covered.

“These policies make this law clearer and will protect customers,” Damron said.

Damron also said that 25 states, including Missouri, have already adopted laws like this one.

He said this law benefits people who do not have homeowner’s insurance, such as members of the the military who are overseas or people leaving the country. The law would provide those people with an easy way to get insurance on their possessions left in storage units.

Representative Dan Hawkins (R-Wichita) said he sees this bill causing all kinds of problems.

“I am worried the companies are not going to know how to handle claims and deal with these cases,” Hawkins said.

Damron said storage company employees would be required to go through a training program before selling insurance. He pointed out that this bill only allows self-storage unit companies to sell insurance; the actual insurance is provided by a partnering insurance company.

According to Larson, a training program is not enough.

“We oppose chopping up the insurance industry to limited segments and then employing non-licensed people to sell it,” Larson said.

Hawkins agreed with Larson and said he will propose an amendment to this bill that would require the person from the storage unit selling the insurance to be licensed.

SB14 passed in the Senate in February with a vote of 38-1. A vote in the House will take place if the bill is passed through the committee after amendments are made.

Madison Coker is a University of Kansas junior studying journalism from Kansas City.