Amd §12, Chap 42 of 1996; amd §23, Chap 136 of 2008
Directs the special advisory panel on homeowners' insurance/catastrophe coverage to study certain facets of profitability of insurance in coastal areas.
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 home-
owners' 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 extend-
ing the effectiveness of certain stand-by powers of the New York prop-
erty 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 Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 12 of chapter 42 of the
2 laws of 1996 amending the insurance law relating to homeowners' insur-
3 ance and a temporary panel on homeowners' insurance coverage, as amended
4 by chapter 136 of the laws of 2008, are amended to read as follows:
5 (1) The superintendent of [insurance] financial services is hereby
6 directed to convene a special advisory panel on homeowners'
7 insurance/catastrophe coverage, to examine and assess the problems
8 affecting the availability and affordability of homeowners' insurance in
9 this state and the effect thereon created by any potential major weather
10 catastrophe. The panel shall study and report on the following issues on
11 or before November 30, [2009] 2018, and on [an annual] a biennial basis
12 thereafter:
13 (a) a review of international, federal and other states' activities
14 regarding catastrophe related coverage, including but not limited to an
15 evaluation of the experience under the California Earthquake Authority
16 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
A. 7469 2
1 (b) an evaluation of the effectiveness of any voluntary market assist-
2 ance program in effect in New York with particular attention devoted to
3 market dynamics in the coastal homeowners' insurance market;
4 (c) an evaluation of the feasibility or experience, if any, of the New
5 York property insurance underwriting association writing homeowners'
6 insurance policies or reinsuring such policies when written in the
7 voluntary market under certain market conditions;
8 (d) an evaluation of the feasibility of the New York property insur-
9 ance underwriting association issuing bonds or establishing other finan-
10 cial mechanisms for catastrophe insurance coverage; and an evaluation of
11 the feasibility of establishing a state-wide catastrophe insurance fund;
12 (e) an evaluation of the feasibility of the New York property insur-
13 ance underwriting association acting as a servicing carrier for policies
14 written pursuant to parts 61 and 62 of title 44 of the Code of Federal
15 Regulations;
16 (f) an evaluation of existing state and local building codes and the
17 feasibility of implementing new building practices and structural
18 improvement retrofitting, to mitigate damage from a major weather catas-
19 trophe;
20 (g) an evaluation of insurer and governmental capacity and effective-
21 ness in the event of a catastrophic weather occurrence, including rein-
22 surance capacity and effectiveness, windstorm deductibles and multi-tier
23 programs, and other risk sharing mechanisms;
24 (h) an evaluation of insurer preparedness in the recovery, rebuilding
25 and renewal processes following weather-related losses; [and]
26 (i) an evaluation of public awareness of storm risks and programs to
27 educate the public of storm risks and mitigation techniques[.];
28 (j) an evaluation of whether and the rate at which insurers may be
29 withdrawing from the coastal homeowners' insurance market, cancelling
30 such policies or substantially increasing insurance premium rates in
31 such market, and the reasons for any such actions. Further, the panel
32 shall study and ascertain an average estimated cost of obtaining compa-
33 rable replacement homeowner's coverage for those insureds who have been
34 cancelled in such coastal areas. For the purposes of this subdivision,
35 the term coastal homeowners' insurance market shall mean those areas
36 that are within one mile of a saltwater ocean, sound, inlet or bay in
37 the counties of the Bronx, Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and
38 Westchester; and
39 (k) an evaluation of state and local municipal natural disaster miti-
40 gation plans, as provided for in article two-B of the executive law, as
41 they relate to minimizing property damage to residential homes in coas-
42 tal areas of the state and suggest ways to minimize insurable and non-
43 insurable residential home losses due to such catastrophic natural
44 disaster events.
45 (2) The panel shall consist of [twenty-three] twenty-six members. The
46 superintendent of [insurance] financial services shall be the chair of
47 the panel. The other [twenty-two] twenty-five members shall be the
48 director of the state emergency management office, the state chief risk
49 officer, the director of risk and insurance management of the office of
50 general services, and twenty-two members appointed as follows: six
51 members shall be appointed by the governor, of whom two shall be experts
52 in the field of catastrophic meteorological science, two shall be build-
53 ing or code enforcement officials and two shall be representative of
54 insurance consumers; six members shall be appointed by the temporary
55 president of the senate, of whom three shall be representative of
56 producers actively placing homeowner's insurance policies in this state,
A. 7469 3
1 two shall be representative of insurance companies actively writing
2 homeowner's insurance policies in this state and one shall be represen-
3 tative of insurance companies providing reinsurance coverage; six
4 members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, of whom three
5 shall be representative of producers actively placing homeowner's insur-
6 ance policies in this state and three shall be representative of insur-
7 ance companies actively writing homeowner's insurance policies in this
8 state; and two members each shall be appointed by the minority leader of
9 the senate and the minority leader of the assembly, provided of the
10 members appointed by each minority leader one shall be representative of
11 producers actively placing homeowner's insurance policies in this state
12 and one shall be representative of insurance companies actively writing
13 homeowner's insurance policies in this state. Each member of the panel
14 shall serve at the pleasure of the official who appointed him or her.
15 § 2. Subdivision (a) of section 23 of chapter 136 of the laws of 2008
16 amending the insurance law relating to extending the effectiveness of
17 certain stand-by powers of the New York property insurance underwriting
18 association, as further amended by section 104 of part A of chapter 62
19 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
20 (a) The superintendent of financial services shall implement a program
21 designed to attract more competitors to the state's homeowners' insur-
22 ance market particularly with respect to those communities that are
23 within one mile of a saltwater ocean, sound, inlet or bay in the coun-
24 ties of the Bronx, Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk and West-
25 chester. The program shall include, but shall not be limited to:
26 (1) identifying, contacting and soliciting feedback from national,
27 regional and other insurance carriers not currently writing homeowners
28 insurance in the state to determine their interest in selling homeowners
29 insurance in the state;
30 (2) adopting specific measures to encourage such insurers to sell
31 homeowners' insurance in the state; and
32 (3) documenting those issues or concerns such insurers may cite as
33 barriers to selling homeowners insurance in the state.
34 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
