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History
- Referred to insurance
- Referred to insurance
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S5582
Title of bill
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to property/casualty insurer report cards
Summary of provisions
This bill would require the Superintendent of Financial services to prepare a report card containing information on how insurers licensed to write personal lines insurance or certain commercial lines insurance policies respond to an emergency or disaster. The Superintendent would be required to post the report card on the Department's website and make it available in writing no later than twenty days following the declaration of a disaster or emergency. The Superintendent would also have to update the report card every seven days for at least six months or until the Superintendent determines that the report card is no longer necessary.
The report card would contain information on how each insurer responded to the disaster or emergency, including the number of claims the insurer received and the status of those claims; the number of independent adjusters the insurer has working in the field; the number of policyholders who have hired public adjusters; the average amount of time, in days, for the insurer to investigate a claim, make a payment, and close a claim; the number of complaints the insurere has received from its insureds; the number of complaints the Department has received on each insurer; and any other information the Superintendent deems necessary.
The Superintendent would also have the discretion to waive the requirements of this bill if the disaster or emergency does not result in a significant amount of insurance related claims and if the Superintendent does not believe the best interests of the public will be served by issuing a report card.
Justification
After a disaster such as Superstorm Sandy, families and businesses often rely on the insurance industry in the recovery process. Prompt assessments of damages and processing of claims are key to providing individuals and families a safe place to live and to providing businesses with the resources they need to continue operating and serving the public. Following Sandy, many issues that homeowners and businesses had with their insurance companies came to light, including delays in the settlement of insurance claims and the adequacy of settlement offers. This bill would address these issues by requiring the Superintendent of Financial Services to prepare and update a publicly available report card on how well each insurance company responds to a specific disaster. This transparency will allow members of the legislature, the public, and the insurance industry itself to evaluate how insurance companies respond to disaster and to make improvements where necessary.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.