Bill Text: NY S01594 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Creates a task force on disasters to examine how insurers who write policies that cover loss of or damage to real property, personal property or other liabilities for loss of, damage to, or injury to persons or property in the state respond to disasters.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-06-07 - PRINT NUMBER 1594A [S01594 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S01594-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         1594--A
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 10, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen. LATIMER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the  Committee  on  Insurance  --  reported
          favorably  from  said  committee  and  committed  to  the Committee on
          Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended,  ordered  reprinted  as
          amended and recommitted to said committee
        AN  ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to creating a task force
          on disasters
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 215 to
     2  read as follows:
     3    §  215.  Task  force on disasters.  (a) There is hereby created a task
     4  force to examine how insurers who write policies that cover loss  of  or
     5  damage  to  real  property,  personal property, or other liabilities for
     6  loss of, damage to, or injury to persons or property in New  York  state
     7  respond  to disasters, in what ways state and local agencies such as the
     8  department of financial services can assist in such response and whether
     9  policyholders and communities have adequate insurance.
    10    (b) (1) The task force shall consist of twenty-three members,  one  of
    11  whom  shall  be  the  superintendent  or his or her designated represen-
    12  tative, six of whom shall be appointed by the  governor,  five  of  whom
    13  shall  be appointed by the governor based upon the recommendation of the
    14  speaker of the assembly, five of whom shall be appointed by the governor
    15  based upon the recommendation of the temporary president of the  senate,
    16  three  of  whom shall be appointed by the governor based upon the recom-
    17  mendation of the minority leader of the  assembly,  and  three  of  whom
    18  shall  be appointed by the governor based upon the recommendation of the
    19  minority leader of the senate.
    20    (2) The appointees shall include representatives of the following:
    21    (A) four insurers who write policies that cover loss of or  damage  to
    22  real  property,  personal  property,  or  other liabilities for loss of,
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01156-03-7
        S. 1594--A                          2
     1  damage to, or injury to persons or property,  including  representatives
     2  from  companies  of varying sizes and locations and at least one insurer
     3  who writes for the national flood insurance program.
     4    (B)  ten  local  officials  who  respond to disasters and emergencies,
     5  including police officials, professional and volunteer fire and emergen-
     6  cy services personnel, and local officials responsible for  the  coordi-
     7  nation  of  emergency services and the locality's response to a disaster
     8  or emergency.  These appointments shall reflect the geographic diversity
     9  of the state and include representatives from  localities  with  varying
    10  population  densities.   These appointments shall also include represen-
    11  tatives from the following regions: New York city, Long Island, mid-Hud-
    12  son, capital  region,  north  country,  Mohawk  Valley,  Southern  tier,
    13  Central New York, Finger lakes, and Western New York.
    14    (C) two organizations that represent independent and public adjusters.
    15    (D) two non-profits that have experience with disaster relief.
    16    (E) two consumer advocacy groups.
    17    (F)  one  independent  insurance agent who obtains coverage for policy
    18  holders for loss of or damage to real property,  personal  property,  or
    19  other  liabilities for loss of, damage to, or injury to persons or prop-
    20  erty.
    21    (3) Recommendations and appointments shall take into consideration the
    22  expertise of other appointees, so that the task force reflects a  diver-
    23  sity of experience.
    24    (4)  The members of the task force shall not receive compensation, but
    25  shall be reimbursed for reasonable travel expenses.
    26    (c) The superintendent, or his or her designated representative, shall
    27  serve as the chair of the task force.
    28    (d) The task force shall report to the governor, the  speaker  of  the
    29  assembly,  the  temporary  president of the senate, and the chair of the
    30  assembly insurance committee and  the  chair  of  the  senate  insurance
    31  committee on the results of its examination one year after the effective
    32  date of this section.  The report shall include information on the chal-
    33  lenges  that  insurers face when responding to a disaster, possible ways
    34  for insurers to work better with community stakeholders and state  agen-
    35  cies to facilitate timely claims investigation and processing, suggested
    36  legislation  to  address,  issues  identified by the task force, and any
    37  other information the superintendent deems relevant.
    38    (e) In completing its task, the task force will consider the following
    39  issues, as well as any other issue that it deems relevant:
    40    (1) Steps insurers currently take in order to respond to  disaster-re-
    41  lated claims in a timely fashion;
    42    (2) Challenges insurers experience when responding to disasters;
    43    (3)  Steps insurers currently take to adequately assess damage so that
    44  homeowners and municipalities can remove debris and make repairs  quick-
    45  ly;
    46    (4) Additional steps insurers and state and local agencies can take to
    47  better respond to the needs of communities and policyholders affected by
    48  a disaster;
    49    (5)  Ways  insurers and state and local agencies can proactively reach
    50  out to policyholders and communities following a disaster;
    51    (6) Ways insurers assist  homeowners  and  businesses  affected  by  a
    52  disaster whose premiums are due;
    53    (7)  Steps  insurers  can  take  if  their employees are affected by a
    54  disaster in order to ensure that they  are  still  able  to  respond  to
    55  claims in a timely fashion;
        S. 1594--A                          3
     1    (8)  Whether  or  not  New  Yorkers  have adequate access to insurance
     2  coverage and if not, identifying what barriers exist  that  may  prevent
     3  people from purchasing adequate coverage;
     4    (9)  Identifying  measures  to  encourage homeowners and businesses to
     5  purchase flood insurance as needed;
     6    (10) Steps insurers take to prevent disputes with policyholders and to
     7  resolve those which do occur as well as additional  steps  insurers  can
     8  take;
     9    (11)  Legislative  actions  that  can  be  considered  to address such
    10  issues.
    11    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.