(DeWitt, New York, Feb. 24, 2015) — Fairness for homeowners in hurricane areas and for employers dealing with Workers’ Compensation insurance tops the 2015 legislative agenda for the state’s oldest insurance producer trade association. The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York’s focused on these issues in its annual legislative position paper, released today.

IIABNY urged legislators to define a standard event that would trigger all insurers’ use of large hurricane deductibles. Homeowners must pay deductibles out of pocket before insurance applies. Special hurricane deductibles apply to homes in the New York City metro area and Long Island. They range from one to five percent of the amount of insurance. Currently, one event may trigger the deductibles in some policies but not others. This could lead to insurance buyers feeling that their insurers have treated them unfairly. IIABNY supports setting one standard trigger for all companies to use, and allowing the market to decide the proper size of the deductible.

New York insurance law requires insurers to notify businesses and organizations well in advance when they want to renew many types of policies with significant changes, such as large premium increases. However, no such requirement exists for Workers’ Compensation insurance. Employers are required by law to buy this insurance and it can be one of the largest items on employers’ budgets. IIABNY supports a measure requiring Workers Compensation insurers to notify employers in advance of large premium increases and other changes.

IIABNY also urged legislators to act on these issues:

• Repeal of New York’s scaffold law that holds owners and contractors absolutely liable for injuries resulting from falls and falling objects. Barring that, IIABNY supports reforming it so courts may consider injured workers’ own carelessness.
• Creation of a privately-funded state catastrophe pool to help cover the cost of future severe weather events.
• Repealing an unfair claim funding requirement for private Workers Compensation insurers.
• Making laws that limit unlicensed insurers’ ability to offer coverage more consumer-friendly.
• Repealing a law that requires insurers to inspect automobiles before providing coverage for damage to them.
• Permitting independent insurance producers to recoup the costs of extraordinary services they provide.

The complete IIABNY position paper is available for download at http://www.iiabny.org/GovernmentAffairs/Pages/OurPositions/PositionPaper/IIABNY_PositionPaper_2015.pdf.