Establishes a private right of action for the insured for unfair insurance settlement practices when the claim relates to loss or injury in an area where the governor has declared a disaster emergency.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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5624
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2019
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Introduced by M. of A. WEINSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, ABINANTI, TITUS, CUSICK,
COLTON, TAYLOR -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GLICK, PERRY -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to establishing a private
right of action for unfair claim settlement practices by an insurer
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 2601 of the insurance law is
2 amended and a new subsection (d) is added to read as follows:
3 (c) If it is found, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, that
4 an insurer has violated this section, each instance of noncompliance
5 with subsection (a) [hereof] of this section may be treated as a sepa-
6 rate violation of this section for purposes of ordering a monetary
7 penalty pursuant to subsection (b) of section one hundred nine of this
8 chapter. A violation of this section shall not be a misdemeanor.
9 (d) Where the governor has declared a disaster emergency pursuant to
10 section twenty-eight of the executive law, in addition to the right of
11 action granted to the department pursuant to this section, any person
12 who has suffered loss or injury by reason of any violation of this
13 section relating to an insurance claim for property damage in an
14 affected area encompassed by the executive order declaring the disaster
15 emergency may bring an action in his or her own name as a plaintiff to
16 enjoin such unlawful act or practice and an action to recover his or her
17 actual damages. The court may, in its discretion, award punitive
18 damages, if the court finds that the defendant insurer willfully or
19 knowingly violated this section. The court may award reasonable attor-
20 ney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00890-01-9