Relates to motor vehicle insurance fairness; provides that insurance rates shall not be increased based on certain factors; sets forth processes for motor vehicle insurers to have rate increases approved; allows public access in relation to any proposed insurance rate increases; allows members of the public to request permission to intervene in proceedings related to rate increases; directs rules and regulations to be established.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10524
IN ASSEMBLY
March 6, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LUNSFORD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to motor vehicle insur-
ance fairness; and to repeal section 2331 of the insurance law relat-
ing to motor vehicle insurance rates based on age, sex or marital
status
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2331 of the insurance law is REPEALED and a new
2 section 2331 is added to read as follows:
3 § 2331. Motor vehicle insurance fairness. (a) Definition. For purposes
4 of this section, the term "proceeding" shall mean the filing of any
5 rate, rating plan, rating rule or rating manual and any rulemaking
6 conducted pursuant to this section.
7 (b) Prohibitions; refusal to insure. (1) No insurer shall refuse to
8 issue or renew a policy or contract of motor vehicle liability and
9 collision insurance based in whole or in part on any of the prohibited
10 underwriting and rating factors set forth in subsection (c) of this
11 section, or use such factors to determine the terms of coverage or
12 placement in a particular affiliate within an insurance company group.
13 (2) Any schedule of rates, rating plan, rating rule, rating manual or
14 any other method of establishing the premium to be paid by a motor vehi-
15 cle insurance policyholder or covered driver, and the modification ther-
16 eof, based in whole or in part on any of the prohibited underwriting and
17 rating factors set forth in subsection (c) of this section shall be
18 deemed unfairly discriminatory.
19 (c) Prohibited factors. No filing of a rate, rating plan, rating rule
20 or rate manual applicable to motor vehicle liability and collision
21 insurance shall be approved by the superintendent if the filing is
22 based, in whole or in part, on the following factors:
23 (1) any criteria protected under section two hundred ninety-six of the
24 executive law;
25 (2) age, except as provided for under subsection (d) of this section;
26 (3) employment or occupation, except as it pertains to whether a vehi-
27 cle is being used for a business purpose and the nature of such use;
28 (4) education level attained;
29 (5) home ownership or property value;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14984-02-6
A. 10524 2
1 (6) consumer credit information or any other credit-based score;
2 (7) the absence of prior insurance;
3 (8) the amount or provider of prior insurance coverage;
4 (9) any measure of a consumer's price elasticity of demand;
5 (10) the zip code, or any territorial designation geographically smal-
6 ler than a zip code, in which the policyholder resides, except as it
7 pertains to the rate of auto-related crimes, such as theft and vandal-
8 ism, or accident rates in such zip code or territorial designation;
9 (11) any data related to a consumer used to justify a rate increase
10 where such data is more than two years old; or
11 (12) the level of income or wealth.
12 (d) Years of driving experience. Notwithstanding paragraph two of
13 subsection (c) of this section, an insurer may consider the number of
14 years of driving experience of an applicant for the purposes of under-
15 writing and rating.
16 (e) Territory or any other geographical characteristic. Territory or
17 any other geographical characteristic shall not be considered for the
18 purposes of underwriting a policy or contract of motor vehicle liability
19 and collision insurance, including, but not limited to, any decision to
20 sell, refuse to sell, cancel, or non-renew. Notwithstanding paragraph
21 ten of subsection (c) of this section, an insurer may, for rating
22 purposes, use a territorial factor that is not prohibited if the terri-
23 torial factor does not have more than a twenty-five percent impact on
24 the premium that would otherwise be charged.
25 (f) Prohibited business practices. Every insurer issuing or delivering
26 a policy or contract of motor vehicle liability and collision insurance
27 in the state of New York shall demonstrate that its marketing, under-
28 writing, rating, claims handling, fraud investigations, and any algo-
29 rithm or model used for those such business practices do not disparately
30 impact any group of customers based on race, color, national or ethnic
31 origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity,
32 or gender expression.
33 (g) Prior approval of rates. (1) No rate shall be approved by the
34 superintendent or remain in effect that is excessive, inadequate,
35 unfairly discriminatory, or otherwise in violation of this section. In
36 considering whether a rate is excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discri-
37 minatory, no consideration shall be given to the degree of competition,
38 and the superintendent shall consider whether such rate mathematically
39 reflects the insurance company's investment income.
40 (2) Every insurer issuing or delivering a policy or contract of motor
41 vehicle liability and collision insurance that desires to change any
42 rate shall file a complete rate application with the superintendent. A
43 complete rate application shall include all data necessary to justify
44 the proposed rate and such other information as the superintendent may
45 require. The applicant shall have the burden of proving that the
46 requested rate change is justified and meets the requirements of this
47 section.
48 (3) The superintendent shall notify the public of any application by
49 an insurer for a rate change. The application shall be deemed approved
50 sixty days after such public notice unless:
51 (i) the superintendent disapproves of the application;
52 (ii) a consumer or such consumer's representative requests a hearing
53 within forty-five days after such public notice and the superintendent
54 grants the hearing, or the superintendent determines not to grant the
55 hearing and issues written findings in support of such decision; or
A. 10524 3
1 (iii) the superintendent, on the superintendent's own motion, deter-
2 mines to hold a hearing. If the proposed rate adjustment exceeds seven
3 percent of the then-applicable rate for personal motor vehicle liability
4 and collision insurance or fifteen percent for commercial motor vehicle
5 liability and collision insurance, then the superintendent shall hold a
6 hearing upon a timely request. If the application is incomplete or
7 otherwise subject to disapproval, then the superintendent may extend the
8 application review process by up to sixty days with the agreement of the
9 applicant.
10 (h) Right of the public to inspect rates. All information provided to
11 the superintendent pursuant to this section shall be available for
12 public inspection on the department's website, without the need to pay
13 for access or login credentials. The department shall establish on
14 their website a centralized online database to allow members of the
15 public to access and view any rate increase applications submitted by
16 insurers. Such database shall include, but not be limited to, the abili-
17 ty to search for specific insurance company rate applications, the abil-
18 ity to view public comments, and an option for individuals to submit
19 their own feedback.
20 (i) Right of the public to request permission to intervene. Any
21 person may request permission from the superintendent to intervene in
22 any proceeding permitted or established pursuant to this section. The
23 superintendent shall grant such permission if such intervention is like-
24 ly to contribute to the development of a complete record or is otherwise
25 fair and in the public interest.
26 (j) Rules. (1) The department shall, no later than ninety days from
27 the date this section takes effect, adopt rules and regulations that
28 guide the filing and approval of rates, rules, and forms pursuant to
29 this section. The superintendent shall develop formulas for evaluating
30 rates and any rules or forms that impact rates that will be used to
31 determine whether to approve or disapprove any filing.
32 (2) Until the rules and regulations described in paragraph one of this
33 subsection are implemented, no insurer may file for a change in any
34 rate, rule, or form that would result in a rate increase. If, before the
35 adoption of the rules and regulations described in paragraph one of this
36 subsection, an insurer asserts that it would not be able to earn a
37 reasonable rate of return without an increase, then such insurer may
38 request a hearing. If it is determined after a hearing that a rate
39 increase is needed to earn a reasonable rate of return, then the insurer
40 shall be allowed to make a change that affords it the minimum increase
41 required to earn a reasonable rate of return.
42 (3) The department shall, no later than one hundred eighty days from
43 the effective date of this section, adopt rules and regulations that
44 implement the testing of insurer business practices for compliance with
45 this section.
46 (k) Fees. All insurers of motor vehicle liability and collision insur-
47 ance subject to the provisions of this section shall be assessed a fee
48 of five hundredths of one percent of their total earned premiums from
49 the prior calendar year. Such fee shall be payable to the department no
50 later than July first of each calendar year and shall be used by the
51 department to implement the provisions of this section.
52 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
53 have become a law.
