S1460-2011 Actions

• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO INSURANCE
• Jan 7, 2011: REFERRED TO INSURANCE

S1460-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S1460

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the insurance law, in relation to windstorm insurance notice
regarding deductibles

PURPOSE:
To clearly define the "trigger" or conditions defining the term
catastrophic windstorm in the insurance law and place a maximum
amount deductible on windstorm damage in homeowner's policies.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Amends �3445 of the Insurance Law to clarify that catastrophic
windstorm damage deductibles shall only be applicable to hurricanes
with windspeeds of 125 miles per hour or greater and limits the
deductible to a maximum of $1500.

JUSTIFICATION:
The residents of the coastal areas of the state have been for the past
few years, subject to a homeowner's insurance market that has
vacillated and fluctuated. Without real damage experience in these
areas, insurance companies have instituted policies of huge
deductibles predicated on hurricanes with minimum windspeeds. This
bill will provide those residents with a stable market with
reasonable coverage.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2009-10 S.241; S.139, 2007-08; S.716, 2005-06; S.724, 2003-04; S.2080,
2001-02; 1999-00, S.4982.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

S1460-2011 Text

 S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 
 S. 1460                                                  A. 1413
 2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 SENATE - ASSEMBLY
 January 7, 2011
 
 IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered print
 ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Insurance
 IN  ASSEMBLY  -- Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred
 to the Committee on Insurance
 

AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation  to  windstorm  insurance
 notice regarding deductibles
 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

Section 1.

Section 3445 of the insurance law, as added by  chapter  44
 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:

 

S  3445.  Windstorm  insurance  notice. 1. The superintendent shall by
 regulation establish disclosure requirements with respect to the  opera
 tion  of  any  deductible  in a homeowner's insurance policy or dwelling
 fire personal lines policy which applies as the result of  a  windstorm.
 Such  regulations shall prescribe the form of a notice to be provided by
 an insurer to an insured. The notice shall explain in  clear  and  plain
 language  the  amount  of  the deductible SUBJECT TO SUBSECTION THREE OF
 THIS SECTION, the circumstances under which the deductible  applies  and
 any  other  matters  which the superintendent, in his or her discretion,
 shall deem necessary or appropriate.
 2. A CATASTROPHIC WINDSTORM DEDUCTIBLE  APPLICABLE  TO  A  HOMEOWNER'S
 INSURANCE  POLICY  OR  DWELLING  FIRE PERSONAL LINES POLICY SHALL NOT BE
 APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT UNLESS THE DEDUCTIBLE IS APPLICABLE  ONLY  TO
 LOSSES  INCURRED  IN A HURRICANE WHICH CAUSES WIND SPEEDS OF ONE HUNDRED
 TWENTY-FIVE MILES OR GREATER PER HOUR TO OCCUR WITHIN THE STATE.
 3. THE MAXIMUM DEDUCTIBLE ALLOWED SHALL NOT BE  GREATER  THAN  FIFTEEN
 HUNDRED DOLLARS AND SHALL BE STATED ON THE POLICY IN NUMERICAL TERMS.
 

S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD03716-01-1

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