What's happening
This bill expands and updates the homeowners’ insurance advisory panel, adds new reporting requirements, and promotes competition in New York’s coastal insurance market.
Why it matters
Broadens the focus and authority of the advisory panel. The panel must now study not just state, but also international and federal approaches to catastrophe insurance, potentially bringing in best practices and innovations from outside New York.
Targets the coastal insurance market with more scrutiny. New reporting requirements specifically focus on the coastal homeowners’ insurance market—areas within one mile of saltwater in several populous counties—mandating evaluations of insurer withdrawal rates, premium increases, and the actual costs of replacement coverage for residents affected by insurance cancellations.
Expands stakeholder representation and expertise. The panel grows from 23 to 26 members and adds key state officials (emergency management, risk officers) to its ranks, likely improving the quality and relevance of its recommendations, particularly in disaster resilience and risk management.
Promotes greater competition and transparency. By directing the state to actively recruit new insurers (especially for coastal areas) and to document barriers to entry, the bill aims to address both availability and affordability problems—matters of direct concern to homeowners facing limited insurance options or rising costs.
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Study Coastal Insurance Problems
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to insurance
- Referred to insurance
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Study Coastal Insurance Issues
In Senate Committee · Insurance · Sponsor Jeffrey D. Klein
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7469
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 26, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend chapter 42 of the laws of 1996 amending the insurance law relating to homeowners' insurance and a temporary panel on homeowners' insurance coverage, in relation to the special advisory panel on homeowners' insurance/catastrophe coverage; and to amend chapter
136 of the laws of 2008 amending the insurance law relating to extending the effectiveness of certain stand-by powers of the New York property insurance underwriting association, in relation to the program designed to attract more competitors to the homeowners' insurance market
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 12 of chapter 42 of the laws of 1996 amending the insurance law relating to homeowners' insurance and a temporary panel on homeowners' insurance coverage, as amended by chapter 136 of the laws of 2008, are amended to read as follows:
(1) The superintendent of [insurance] financial services is hereby directed to convene a special advisory panel on homeowners' insurance/catastrophe coverage, to examine and assess the problems affecting the availability and affordability of homeowners' insurance in this state and the effect thereon created by any potential major weather catastrophe. The panel shall study and report on the following issues on or before November 30, [2009] 2018, and on [an annual] a biennial basis thereafter:
(a) a review of international, federal and other states' activities regarding catastrophe related coverage, including but not limited to an evaluation of the experience under the California Earthquake Authority and the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09368-01-7
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(b) an evaluation of the effectiveness of any voluntary market assistance program in effect in New York with particular attention devoted to market dynamics in the coastal homeowners' insurance market;
(c) an evaluation of the feasibility or experience, if any, of the New York property insurance underwriting association writing homeowners' insurance policies or reinsuring such policies when written in the voluntary market under certain market conditions;
(d) an evaluation of the feasibility of the New York property insurance underwriting association issuing bonds or establishing other financial mechanisms for catastrophe insurance coverage; and an evaluation of the feasibility of establishing a state-wide catastrophe insurance fund;
(e) an evaluation of the feasibility of the New York property insurance underwriting association acting as a servicing carrier for policies written pursuant to parts 61 and 62 of title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations;
(f) an evaluation of existing state and local building codes and the feasibility of implementing new building practices and structural improvement retrofitting, to mitigate damage from a major weather catastrophe;
(g) an evaluation of insurer and governmental capacity and effectiveness in the event of a catastrophic weather occurrence, including reinsurance capacity and effectiveness, windstorm deductibles and multi-tier programs, and other risk sharing mechanisms;
(h) an evaluation of insurer preparedness in the recovery, rebuilding and renewal processes following weather-related losses; [and]
(i) an evaluation of public awareness of storm risks and programs to educate the public of storm risks and mitigation techniques[.];
(j) an evaluation of whether and the rate at which insurers may be withdrawing from the coastal homeowners' insurance market, cancelling such policies or substantially increasing insurance premium rates in such market, and the reasons for any such actions. Further, the panel shall study and ascertain an average estimated cost of obtaining comparable replacement homeowner's coverage for those insureds who have been cancelled in such coastal areas. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term coastal homeowners' insurance market shall mean those areas that are within one mile of a saltwater ocean, sound, inlet or bay in the counties of the Bronx, Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester; and
(k) an evaluation of state and local municipal natural disaster mitigation plans, as provided for in article two-B of the executive law, as they relate to minimizing property damage to residential homes in coastal areas of the state and suggest ways to minimize insurable and noninsurable residential home losses due to such catastrophic natural disaster events.
(2) The panel shall consist of [twenty-three] twenty-six members. The superintendent of [insurance] financial services shall be the chair of the panel. The other [twenty-two] twenty-five members shall be the director of the state emergency management office, the state chief risk officer, the director of risk and insurance management of the office of general services, and twenty-two members appointed as follows: six members shall be appointed by the governor, of whom two shall be experts in the field of catastrophic meteorological science, two shall be building or code enforcement officials and two shall be representative of insurance consumers; six members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate, of whom three shall be representative of producers actively placing homeowner's insurance policies in this state,
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two shall be representative of insurance companies actively writing homeowner's insurance policies in this state and one shall be representative of insurance companies providing reinsurance coverage; six members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, of whom three shall be representative of producers actively placing homeowner's insurance policies in this state and three shall be representative of insurance companies actively writing homeowner's insurance policies in this state; and two members each shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly, provided of the members appointed by each minority leader one shall be representative of producers actively placing homeowner's insurance policies in this state and one shall be representative of insurance companies actively writing homeowner's insurance policies in this state. Each member of the panel shall serve at the pleasure of the official who appointed him or her.
§ 2. Subdivision (a) of section 23 of chapter 136 of the laws of 2008 amending the insurance law relating to extending the effectiveness of certain stand-by powers of the New York property insurance underwriting association, as further amended by section 104 of part A of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The superintendent of financial services shall implement a program designed to attract more competitors to the state's homeowners' insurance market particularly with respect to those communities that are within one mile of a saltwater ocean, sound, inlet or bay in the counties of the Bronx, Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and Westchester. The program shall include, but shall not be limited to:
(1) identifying, contacting and soliciting feedback from national, regional and other insurance carriers not currently writing homeowners insurance in the state to determine their interest in selling homeowners insurance in the state;
(2) adopting specific measures to encourage such insurers to sell homeowners' insurance in the state; and
(3) documenting those issues or concerns such insurers may cite as barriers to selling homeowners insurance in the state.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.