Bill Text: NY S03003 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to verification of claims made under the comprehensive motor vehicle insurance reparations act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO INSURANCE [S03003 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S03003-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3003 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 31, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. FUNKE, GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Insurance AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to verification of claims made under the comprehensive motor vehicle insurance reparations act The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 5106 of the insurance law, subsection (b) as 2 amended by chapter 452 of the laws of 2005 and subsection (d) as amended 3 by section 8 of part AAA of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 § 5106. Fair claims settlement. (a) Payments of first party benefits 6 and additional first party benefits shall be made as the loss is 7 incurred. Such benefits are overdue if not paid within thirty days 8 after the claimant supplies proof of the fact and amount of loss 9 sustained. If proof is not supplied as to the entire claim, the amount 10 which is supported by proof is overdue if not paid within thirty days 11 after such proof is supplied. All overdue payments shall bear interest 12 at the rate of two percent per month. If a valid claim or portion was 13 overdue, the claimant shall also be entitled to recover his attorney's 14 reasonable fee, for services necessarily performed in connection with 15 securing payment of the overdue claim, subject to limitations promulgat- 16 ed by the superintendent in regulations. 17 (b) The insurer is entitled to receive all items necessary to verify 18 the claim, including medical examination and examination under oath of 19 the injured party or any additional verification required by the insurer 20 to establish proof of claim. The failure of the injured party to appear 21 for a scheduled medical examination or examination under oath or to 22 provide any other additional verification shall neither be a policy 23 violation nor be utilized as the basis for the denial of a claim or 24 disclaimer, provided the injured party submits to the insurer written 25 proof offering either (1) reasonable justification for the failure to EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00273-01-9S. 3003 2 1 comply; or (2) a demonstrable willingness to comply within thirty calen- 2 dar days from the date of the injured party's failure to appear or other 3 verification becomes overdue. If such written proof is not provided 4 within a reasonable time period, the insurer may only deny that portion 5 of the claim for which the requested medical examination, examination 6 under oath or additional verification was required as proof of the fact 7 and amount of loss sustained. In no event shall the failure of the 8 injured party to appear for a scheduled medical examination or examina- 9 tion under oath or to provide any other additional verification serve as 10 the basis for the denial of that portion of a claim relating to emergen- 11 cy medical care provided within forty-eight hours of an accident. 12 (c) Every insurer shall provide a claimant with the option of submit- 13 ting any dispute involving the insurer's liability to pay first party 14 benefits, or additional first party benefits, the amount thereof or any 15 other matter which may arise pursuant to subsection (a) of this section 16 to arbitration pursuant to simplified procedures to be promulgated or 17 approved by the superintendent. Such simplified procedures shall include 18 an expedited eligibility hearing option, when required, to designate the 19 insurer for first party benefits pursuant to subsection [(d)] (e) of 20 this section. The expedited eligibility hearing option shall be a forum 21 for eligibility disputes only, and shall not include the submission of 22 any particular bill, payment or claim for any specific benefit for adju- 23 dication, nor shall it consider any other defense to payment. 24 [(c)] (d) An award by an arbitrator shall be binding except where 25 vacated or modified by a master arbitrator in accordance with simplified 26 procedures to be promulgated or approved by the superintendent. The 27 grounds for vacating or modifying an arbitrator's award by a master 28 arbitrator shall not be limited to those grounds for review set forth in 29 article seventy-five of the civil practice law and rules. The award of a 30 master arbitrator shall be binding except for the grounds for review set 31 forth in article seventy-five of the civil practice law and rules, and 32 provided further that where the amount of such master arbitrator's award 33 is five thousand dollars or greater, exclusive of interest and attor- 34 ney's fees, the insurer or the claimant may institute a court action to 35 adjudicate the dispute de novo. 36 [(d)] (e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph two of this subsection, 37 where there is reasonable belief more than one insurer would be the 38 source of first party benefits, the insurers may agree among themselves, 39 if there is a valid basis therefor, that one of them will accept and pay 40 the claim initially. If there is no such agreement, then the first 41 insurer to whom notice of claim is given shall be responsible for 42 payment. Any such dispute shall be resolved in accordance with the arbi- 43 tration procedures established pursuant to section five thousand one 44 hundred five of this article and regulations as promulgated by the 45 superintendent, and any insurer paying first-party benefits shall be 46 reimbursed by other insurers for their proportionate share of the costs 47 of the claim and the allocated expenses of processing the claim, in 48 accordance with the provisions entitled "other coverage" contained in 49 regulation and the provisions entitled "other sources of first-party 50 benefits" contained in regulation. If there is no such insurer and the 51 motor vehicle accident occurs in this state, then an applicant who is a 52 qualified person as defined in article fifty-two of this chapter shall 53 institute the claim against the motor vehicle accident indemnification 54 corporation. 55 (2) A group policy issued pursuant to section three thousand four 56 hundred fifty-five of this chapter shall provide first party benefitsS. 3003 3 1 when a dispute exists as to whether a driver was using or operating a 2 motor vehicle in connection with a transportation network company when 3 loss, damage, injury, or death occurs. A transportation network company 4 shall notify the insurer that issued the owner's policy of liability 5 insurance of the dispute within ten business days of becoming aware that 6 the dispute exists. When there is a dispute, the group insurer liable 7 for the payment of first party benefits under a group policy shall have 8 the right to recover the amount paid from the driver's insurer to the 9 extent that the driver would have been liable to pay damages in an 10 action at law. 11 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
