Requires property/casualty insurance policies to state the types and causes of damage that are covered by such policy; requires such information to be provided at or near the beginning of such policy.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A211
SPONSOR: Eachus TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to requiring
property/casualty insurance policies to state the types and causes of
damage that are covered by such policy
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Requires property/casualty insurance policies to state the types and
causes of damage that are covered by such policy.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Requires certain insurance policies to clearly and concisely
list what is and what is not covered by the policy in an easily legible
font size at or near the beginning of the policy document.
Section 2: Sets effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Insurance policies can be complicated enough on their own. On top of
that, many insurance companies use complex language to describe what is
and what is not covered by their policies and may bury that information
near the back of the policy documents. This can confuse policy-owners
and cause surprise when certain damage is not covered after an emergen-
cy. This bill will allow policy-owners to have a better understanding of
what their policy does and does not cover.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24
A7977: Referred to Insurance, S8114: Referred to Insurance
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
211
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EACHUS, LEVENBERG, JACOBSON, BRABENEC, McDONOUGH
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to requiring
property/casualty insurance policies to state the types and causes of
damage that are covered by such policy
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 3407-a of the insurance law, as added by chapter
2 306 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows
3 § 3407-a. Property/casualty insurance contract and policy standard
4 provisions. (a) No property/casualty insurance policy or contract shall
5 be issued or issued for delivery on a risk located or resident in this
6 state insuring against damage to the insured's real property unless it
7 contains in substance the following provision or a provision which is
8 equal or more favorable to the insured: a provision that in the event of
9 a pending claim for damage to real property, upon request, the insurer
10 shall furnish to the insured's representative, designated in writing, or
11 if none has been designated, to the insured, a copy of any written esti-
12 mate or estimates of the cost of damages to real property resulting from
13 the loss which the insurer has independently prepared for its own
14 purposes, or had prepared on its behalf for its own purposes, specifying
15 all appropriate deductions, within thirty days after the request or
16 preparation, whichever is later, of such estimate or estimates. An
17 insurer shall not be required to provide an estimate on claims for
18 damages to real property unless it has independently prepared one or had
19 one prepared on its behalf for the insurer's own purposes.
20 (b) Every property/casualty insurance policy or contract issued or
21 issued for delivery on a risk located or resident in this state shall
22 clearly and concisely state the types and causes of damage that are and
23 that are not covered by such policy. Such information shall be
24 contained at or near the beginning of the policy and shall be printed in
25 a font size that is easily legible.
26 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01497-01-5
