Bill Text: NY A11147 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the department of financial services to study and report upon the adequacy and affordability of business interruption insurance coverage for pandemics, viruses and other public health emergencies.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-11-06 - referred to insurance [A11147 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A11147-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          11147

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    November 6, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Cahill) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance

        AN ACT to direct the department  of  financial  services  to  study  and
          report  upon  the  adequacy and affordability of business interruption
          insurance coverage for pandemics,  viruses  and  other  public  health
          emergencies;  and  providing  for  the  repeal of such provisions upon
          expiration thereof

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The  legislature  hereby  finds that significant economic
     2  liabilities surrounding quarantines and shutdowns  associated  with  the
     3  COVID-19  outbreak  have  sparked  debate as to the exact terms, overall
     4  costs and general adequacy of business interruption  insurance  policies
     5  related   to  coverage  for  pandemics,  viruses  and  other  infectious
     6  diseases.  The tremendous financial impact upon the  business  community
     7  due  to  the ongoing public health crisis highlights the need to examine
     8  the current status and sufficiency of  business  interruption  insurance
     9  coverage  related  to  this  health epidemic and potentially other wide-
    10  spread events in the future.
    11    § 2. The superintendent of financial services shall review and  report
    12  on  the  adequacy,  reasonableness  and affordability of business inter-
    13  ruption insurance coverage  as  it  relates  to  losses  resulting  from
    14  pandemics,  viruses  and  other  infectious  diseases. Such report shall
    15  include but not be limited to:
    16    (a) the present state of the  marketplace  regarding  pandemic-related
    17  insurance coverage for business interruption policies;
    18    (b)  prevailing reasons for the denial of insurance coverage for busi-
    19  ness interruption policies related  to  pandemics,  viruses,  infectious
    20  diseases and other common exclusions;
    21    (c)  the  general  appropriateness,  significance  and  credibility of
    22  rating variables used to  determine  premiums  and  the  cost  of  risks
    23  covered by business interruption insurance policies;
    24    (d)  the  experience  of  states  and jurisdictions as far as business
    25  interruption insurance coverage for pandemic-related events;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD17305-03-0
        A. 11147                            2

     1    (e) the experience of states and jurisdictions as far as the projected
     2  costs, implications and concerns associated with  mandating  retroactive
     3  business interruption insurance coverage;
     4    (f)  analysis  as to the necessity and role of federal intervention to
     5  ensure business interruption  insurance  coverage  for  pandemic-related
     6  events, including proposed legislation;
     7    (g)  the  overall  immediate  and long-term costs to both insurers and
     8  insureds regarding business interruption insurance coverage for  pandem-
     9  ic-related  events,  including  the potential need for any public subsi-
    10  dies;
    11    (h) the financial impacts and other concerns associated with  removing
    12  the  typical physical damage requirement traditionally found in business
    13  interruption insurance policies;
    14    (i) an examination as to the financial impacts  to  the  property  and
    15  casualty  insurance  marketplace related to business interruption insur-
    16  ance coverage for pandemic-related events;
    17    (j) the extent to which exclusions and uninsurable events  are  appro-
    18  priately and unambiguously disclosed to policyholders; and
    19    (k) recommendations to promote reasonable, adequate and cost-effective
    20  coverage  for  businesses to secure and for the insurance marketplace to
    21  offer business interruption insurance policies that  cover  pandemic-re-
    22  lated events.
    23    § 3. Within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of this act,
    24  the superintendent of financial services shall submit such report to the
    25  governor,  temporary  president of the senate, and speaker of the assem-
    26  bly.
    27    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be  repealed  60
    28  days  after  the  submission  of the report pursuant to section three of
    29  this act.