All parties to the mediation proceeding shall negotiate in good faith and shall have the authority to immediately settle claims. An insurer that fails to appear for a scheduled mediation conference or meeting for which the consumer appears shall pay the consumer for his or her actual expenses incurred in attending the conference plus the value of lost wages. An insured who has good cause for a failure to appear may reschedule one time, at a time set by the mediator. If an insured fails to demonstrate good cause for the first failure to appear or subsequent failures to appear, that insured loses his or her right to mediate the claim under this chapter and shall pay all costs charged by the mediator up to the time of the failure to appear that terminates the mediation.
(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 848, Sec. 1. Effective October 13, 1995.)