# Massachusetts S 785: An Act relative to insurance claims Massachusetts S 785, An Act relative to insurance claims, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) Senate bill sponsored by Joan B. Lovely (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-08-07 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 187 of the Acts of 2026); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-S785-194 - As of: 2026-11-01 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Massachusetts S 785 - State: Massachusetts - Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026) - Title: An Act relative to insurance claims - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-02-27 - Last action: 2026-08-07, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 187 of the Acts of 2026 - Sponsor: Joan B. Lovely (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 22 - Subjects: Financial Services, Senate Rules, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 2 (11 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 1 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Insurers can't ban your public adjuster: benefit, low. In Massachusetts, your home or renters insurer cannot stop you from hiring a licensed public adjuster for a property or casualty claim. Any policy clause that tries to ban or limit this is void and must be removed. This applies to all insurers, including surplus lines companies. All your other poli… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Joan B. Lovely (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Adrianne Pusateri Ramos (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Barry R. Finegold (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Bradley H. Jones Jr. (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Brendan P. Crighton (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Bruce E. Tarr (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Christopher J. Worrell (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Donald H. Wong (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Dylan A. Fernandes (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: John C. Velis (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: John F. Keenan (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: John J. Cronin (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Kelly W. Pease (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Lydia Edwards (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Michael D. Brady (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Michael O. Moore (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Nick Collins (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Patrick M. O'Connor (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Paul J. Donato (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Paul W. Mark (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Robyn K. Kennedy (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Sal N. DiDomenico (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Steven S. Howitt (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-07-08 | committee | Committee Place in OD: Placed in the Orders of the Day | pass | 5 | 0 | 2 | | 2025-11-03 | committee | Committee Favorable: Ought to pass | pass | 6 | 0 | | ## Actions (16) - 2026-08-07: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 187 of the Acts of 2026 - 2026-07-31: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate) - 2026-07-30: Enacted (House) - 2026-07-30: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House) - 2026-07-30: Rules suspended (House) - 2026-07-20: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House) - 2026-07-20: Rules suspended (House) - 2026-07-20: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House) - 2026-07-13: Read; and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House) - 2026-07-13: Read second, ordered to a third reading, read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (Senate) - 2026-07-13: Rules suspended (Senate) - 2026-07-13: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session (Senate) - 2025-11-10: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on Senate Rules (Senate) - 2025-05-07: Hearing scheduled for 05/13/2025 from 10:00 AM-01:00 PM in A-2 (legislature) - 2025-02-27: House concurred (House) - 2025-02-27: Referred to the committee on Financial Services (Senate) ## Bill text - Chapter 187 of the Acts of 2026, 2026-08-07: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S785.pdf) ## Related bills - H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey (passed senate) - H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax abatements (signed) - H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 59, section 5, clauses seventeenth D and forty-first C in the town o… (passed house) - H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading) - H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed) - H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust to acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions (signed) ## Sources - [Chapter 187 of the Acts of 2026 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S785.pdf) ## Related - [H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police ch…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5435-194) - [H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax aba…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4585-194) - [H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5515-194) - [H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nichola…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5429-194) - [H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194) - [H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3909-194) - [Massachusetts bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/massachusetts/bills) - [Massachusetts state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/massachusetts) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-S785-194 (as of 2026-11-01).