Requires third-party food delivery services maintain insurance through a group policy that covers bodily injury or death arising out of or resulting from qualifying accidents involving a delivery person.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1162--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring
third-party food delivery services maintain insurance through a group
policy that covers bodily injury or death arising out of or resulting
from qualifying accidents involving a delivery person
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 391-v of the
2 general business law, as added by chapter 693 of the laws of 2021, is
3 amended and three new paragraphs (e), (f), and (g) are added to read as
4 follows:
5 (d) "Third-party food delivery platform" means the online or mobile
6 platform of the third-party food delivery service on which a consumer
7 can view products available for sale and place an order for a food
8 service establishment's products or on which a delivery driver can
9 accept and facilitate orders.
10 (e) "Delivery driver" means any individual who conveys products from a
11 food service establishment to a consumer on behalf of a third-party food
12 delivery service. For the purposes of this paragraph, multiple delivery
13 drivers who share one account with a third-party food delivery service
14 shall each qualify as a delivery driver.
15 (f) "Qualifying accident" means a vehicular accident involving a
16 delivery driver that occurs while the delivery driver is logged into a
17 third-party food delivery platform and conveying products from a food
18 service establishment to a consumer on behalf of a third-party food
19 delivery service.
20 (g) "Qualifying vehicle" means any two or three-wheeled vehicle, other
21 than a motor vehicle or motorcycle that carries its own liability insur-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00494-04-5
S. 1162--A 2
1 ance per the requirements of article six of the vehicle and traffic law,
2 at the time of the qualifying accident.
3 § 2. Section 391-v of the general business law is amended by adding a
4 new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
5 3. Each third-party food delivery service shall maintain insurance
6 through a group policy that covers bodily injury or death arising out of
7 or resulting from qualifying accidents involving a delivery person
8 subject to the following provisions:
9 (a) Benefits shall be limited to only those qualifying accidents
10 involving delivery persons who are operating a qualifying vehicle.
11 (b) Benefits shall be limited to payments for basic economic losses up
12 to fifty thousand dollars per person. For the purpose of determining
13 basic economic loss, qualifying expenses shall be determined in accord-
14 ance with the definitions and limitations of section five thousand one
15 hundred two of the insurance law.
16 (c) The policy of liability insurance maintained by the third-party
17 food delivery service in accordance with this section shall provide for
18 the payment of benefits for qualifying accidents to all persons, other
19 than those explicitly excluded in this subdivision, for loss arising out
20 of the use or operation of a qualifying vehicle by a delivery driver in
21 New York. Persons eligible for benefits shall include, but are not
22 limited to: (i) delivery drivers; (ii) pedestrians; and (iii) cyclists
23 who are not delivery drivers who experience basic economic loss in
24 accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of this subdivision.
25 Persons shall be eligible for benefits irrespective of state residency
26 or citizenship status so long as the qualifying accident occurs in New
27 York. The payment of benefits shall be awarded irrespective of who was
28 at fault, liable, or responsible for the qualifying accident. Occupants
29 of a motor vehicle and occupants of a motorcycle that carries its own
30 liability insurance per the requirements of article six of the vehicle
31 and traffic law shall not be eligible for benefits.
32 (d) An insurer may exclude from coverage required by this section the
33 following individuals:
34 (i) a delivery driver who intentionally causes their own injury or who
35 is injured as a result of exhibiting dangerous conduct while in an
36 intoxicated condition or while impaired by the use of a drug, or
37 (ii) any other person who intentionally causes their own injury or who
38 is injured as a result of exhibiting dangerous conduct while in an
39 intoxicated condition or while impaired by the use of a drug.
40 (e) Insurance maintained by any third-party food delivery service to
41 satisfy the requirements of this section shall be offered without a
42 deductible, and the expenses associated with maintaining such insurance
43 may not be passed on to consumers using the third-party delivery plat-
44 form in political subdivisions where delivery drivers are not conveying
45 products using qualifying vehicles. A third-party food delivery service
46 may maintain insurance to satisfy the requirements of this section
47 through a third-party insurer, so long as the requirements of this
48 section are met. The insurance policy must be written by an insurer
49 licensed to write insurance in this state or procured by a duly licensed
50 excess line broker pursuant to section two thousand one hundred eighteen
51 of the insurance law, provided that the obligation to determine whether
52 the insurance required by this section is unavailable from insurers
53 authorized to write insurance in this state shall be made prior to the
54 initial placement and at each renewal of a policy.
55 (f) Insurance offered by any third-party food delivery service to
56 satisfy the requirements of this section shall be primary over other
S. 1162--A 3
1 applicable insurance policies that would otherwise cover the basic
2 economic losses defined in this section.
3 (g) A delivery driver shall receive benefits in accordance with this
4 section irrespective of the delivery driver's immigration status or
5 status as an independent contractor. A delivery driver interfacing with
6 a third-party food delivery service at the time of a qualifying accident
7 shall receive benefits in accordance with this section irrespective of
8 whether the delivery driver's vehicle is in compliance with federal,
9 state, or local requirements, including registration requirements.
10 (h) (i) The third-party food delivery service and platform shall not
11 take any adverse action against a delivery driver, including but not
12 limited to deactivation, reduction of work hours or offers or orders, or
13 any form of discipline, against any delivery driver for exercising their
14 right to request that the company pay for an insurance policy and take
15 responsibility for accidents that can be reasonably proven to have
16 occurred while the worker was conveying products from a food service
17 establishment to a consumer on behalf of the third-party food delivery
18 service or platform.
19 (ii) If a delivery driver is deactivated following the filing of a
20 claim or receipt of benefits, the third-party food delivery service or
21 platform must provide a written explanation detailing the reasons for
22 deactivation, supported by clear and documented evidence.
23 (iii) In any case where a delivery driver is deactivated as a result
24 of filing for the company to pay for the personal insurance claim under
25 the insurance policy, the worker shall be reinstated immediately upon
26 confirmation that the deactivation was linked to the claim filing.
27 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
28 it shall have become a law.
