What's happening
This bill prohibits insurers from denying coverage for covered events due to anti-concurrent causation clauses involving floods and requires clearer policy disclosures.
Why it matters
Protects policyholders from denied claims when both a covered event and an excluded flood occur together. Insurers can no longer use anti-concurrent causation clauses to deny coverage for the part of a loss due to a covered event simply because an excluded flood also contributed to the damage.
Ensures partial coverage even in complex disasters. Policyholders retain coverage for portions of losses attributable to covered perils, even if those losses happen at the same time as non-covered events like floods, preventing insurers from broadly denying claims for mixed-cause events.
Mandates transparency in policy language. Insurers must clearly specify, upfront and before sale, exactly how and when coverage may be limited due to the interplay between covered and excluded perils, reducing ambiguity and the risk of surprise claim denials.
Applies to new and renewed policies. The bill’s protections and requirements will benefit both new policyholders and those renewing existing policies, ensuring broader and more reliable coverage across the market going forward.
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Who cares
Insurance policyholders
The bill would protect coverage for damage caused by a covered peril when an uncovered or excluded flood contributes to or occurs alongside it, without requiring payment for excluded flood damage.
Insurers
The bill would restrict flood-related coverage denials and require policies to specify which excluded perils and causal relationships can limit coverage.
Insurance shoppers
Insurers would have to disclose provisions linking coverage limits to excluded or uncovered causes before a policy is sold or purchased.
Headline styles
Limit Insurance Denials After Floods
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to insurance
- Referred to insurance
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2312
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 22, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. RODRIGUEZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to anti-concurrent causation clauses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 3457 to read as follows:
§ 3457. Anti-concurrent causation clauses. (a) When a flood event not covered under a policy or specifically excluded under a policy is a contributing factor in or occurs simultaneously as a covered event or peril, the insurer shall not deny or exclude coverage for the loss or damage caused by the covered event or peril. However, nothing shall obligate the insurer to pay for any loss or damage caused by the flood event that is not covered or is excluded.
(b) If an insurer issues a policy that includes a provision that allows the insurer to determine whether loss or damage caused by a covered peril may or may not be covered partially or wholly based upon whether a peril that is excluded or not covered under the policy was the proximate or remote cause of the covered loss or damage, the insurer must clearly state in the policy: (1) which peril excluded or not covered under the policy must cause, proximately or remotely, the covered peril or perils; and (2) in each specific instance, whether the causation must be proximate or remote to result in a limitation in coverage. The insurer must disclose this provision to the policyholder prior to the sale or purchase of the policy.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all policies issued or renewed after such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06915-01-9
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.